Harudori NOT
by half-demon priestess
Summary: Harudori Tsugumi, having already completed her first year with her partner Maka Albarn, is ready to be a good senpai to the new students. Not even her fear of starting to go on missions will stop her. Though with traitors lurking around every corner, DWMA's biggest threat seems to be coming from within. 2nd story in the Harudori Series!
1. Reunion

Chapter 1 – Reunion

 _Hi there! This is Harudori Tsugumi, aged 14, and partner of Maka Albarn, today I've finally returned to DWMA. While I really enjoyed seeing my family again over the winter break, is it weird that I'm even happier to be making my way back up Death's Staircase once more? It's a new year of my savage but super fun life!_

Tsugumi jogged up the famous Death Staircase with a wide smile, "Finally I'm at the top!" She declared, spinning in place. She felt proud realising that just this time last year she couldn't walk up these stairs without getting exhausted, guessing that keeping up her training over the break had helped. She remembered why she had come here in the first place, a day before term began. "Right, I better go meet up with Maka now, we have so much to do in order to get ready for the new term!" Tsugumi said pumping her fist.

She began making her way to the place the two had agreed to meet over the phone. It felt like it's been so long since they last saw each other, Tsugumi wondered how much Maka had changed in their time apart. At the least it seemed that she and Black*Star had made peace again, since they managed sharing phone calls to her in Japan. Tsugumi made her way through the gym doors, shoving both doors open, eager to see her partner again. "Maka, I'm back!" She said waving to her partner.

"Oh, Tsugumi welcome back-Hey watch it Black*Star!" Maka said her eye twitching as she narrowly dodged being hit in the face. Tsugumi looked at the two in shock, the scene before her sinking in. Maka and Black*Star were sparring, though rather than hand to hand they were using staff's. Maka, red in the face now from having their reunion interrupted, was trying to beat Black*Star over the head with hers, as the boy jokingly swerved away at the last possible minute.

"It's not my fault if you look away Maka!" Black*Star said with a smirk, "You should have expected Tsugumi would come here early." Maka looked ready to retort as she began opening her mouth.

"I'm glad you two are getting along and all, but really why do you two only get along when you're hitting each other?" Tsugumi said as she stamped her foot, bringing the two's spar to an abrupt halt.

"Tsugumi I...!" Maka began saying, holding up her hands and staff hidden from sight. Tsugumi puffed out her cheeks and stared Maka down.

"Just once, can we please meet up go do regular student activities and get along without the standard banter? In fact that's what we're doing today!" Tsugumi said nodding to herself, walking up to the two meister and grabbing them each by the hand. "You two are coming with me, we are getting our equipment and uniforms at the school shop right now and you two are going to go the whole time without taking a shot at each other." That said she began dragging them out of the gym to their destination.

"Hey who said I was coming, I don't need a new uniform!" Black*Star said, trying to slip his wrist free of Tsugumi's hold. His staff dropping to the floor as Tsugumi gave him a hard tug.

"So you're going to go on missions dressed like that huh?" Tsugumi said, drawing out her words, turning a raised eyebrow at him. Looking down she could see Black*Star's shoes were worn down, smooth soles sliding across the floor as he tried to pull away. "You're clothes are all worn out, you two must have been at this the entire break to have managed that." Black*Star and Maka flinched, so Tsugumi figured she'd hit the nail on the head.

"Hey Maka..." Black*Star said, keeping his voice low the moment Tsugumi turned to face forward. "The death happened to Tsugumi while she was gone, she's gotten really big. Was she replaced by an alien?"

"Aliens aren't real Black*Star. I don't know what's gotten into her." Maka said, scrunching up her nose, eyebrows drawing together. "She did say she'd been keeping up with her training but she sounded normal over the phone..."

"I can still hear you guys!" Tsugumi said, taking a bit of perverse pleasure in the surprised jump she elicited from the two. "I didn't change, I got to recharge after having to spend all that time between you keeping you from fighting. But that's not going to happen again right?" She said, giving the two a pleasant smile that made them cringe. "Let's all be mature adults about this, otherwise you are ever going to manage to fall in love one day."

"Love, the death did love come into this?" Maka said, face red as she stuttered. "Childhood friend romances only happen in cliché stories, it definitely not happening between us!" Black*Star began choking desperately on his own spit, face bright red.

"Huh? Who said I was talking about you two being together?" Tsugumi said raising an eyebrow. "You'd kill each other within a week!" Tsugumi was sure she was going to have nightmares about it tonight. There was no way her peaceful life would last if you added hormones to Black*Star and Maka's chaotic relationship.

"Oh fair enough..." Maka said her face still, though her right eye was twitching. Black*Star was clenching his chest, struggling to breathe.

As Black*Star's wheezing eased her stared at Tsugumi's face. Tsugumi wondered what could make him think so hard, it couldn't be anything good for her. "Ah! I figured it out!" Black*Star said, voice rising as he talked. "Tsugumi's turned into a pervert now that she's hit puberty!" He said with a nod. Maka's face smoothed out into a frown as she thought it over.

"So that was it!" She said, nodding to herself. "I think this is the first time I'm proud of you for thinking." Maka said, Black*Star returned Maka's grin with one of his own.

"I am not a pervert, what's wrong with considering romance at my age?" Tsugumi said, letting go of the two so her arms could swing in time with her raised voice. "I'm just in love with being in love ok?"

The two ignored her and began walking away. "We'll leave her alone until she snaps back to normal..." Maka said to Black*Star, who nodded enthusiastically.

"Hey wait up you guys!" Tsugumi cried out as they rounded the corner without her. Why did they only get along when they were picking on her? Though she suspected she'd have to give them a pass since they were still a little too young to understand.

* * *

Searching the clothing racks of the school store Tsugumi was glad that Maka and Black*Star had managed to get along while getting school supplies without incident, despite having to make Black*Star actually get some for the first time. Tsugumi wanted to know how he managed to get so far in school without trying at all. Now they had separated in the uniform section, having gone their separate ways to find what they needed.

"I still really like the collar I used last time but it was a bit impractical for the desert..." Tsugumi admitted balefully, remembering the sweat puddles wearing black long sleeves had caused her. "Replacing the boots with some basic school shoes is a must. But I guess I'll just stick to the summer variation of my shirt this time around." That decided she dug through the racks to find more copies of her chosen shirt.

"Girls take way too long deciding what to wear." Black*Star said, as he sat slumped against the wall in the corner. Tsugumi turned to glare at him, pouting.

"Don't pout Black*Star!" Tsugumi began, taking a peek at the small pile he'd already found. "Hey you only picked work out gear no wonder you finished so quickly! You need an actual uniform for class Black*Star or you're going to be stuck in sweaty clothes in class."

"Its fine isn't it? If I'm sweat it's my own problem." Black*Star said, with a snort.

"Until we have to smell you since we always sit beside you, boys!" Tsugumi said, throwing up her arms. Why were boys such strange creatures? She walked straight into the boys section. "I'll get you a black gakuen; everybody looks good in them... What were your sizes again? Never mind I remember!"

"Hey, I said it was fine Tsugumi!" Black*Star said, jumping up to follow her. "How do you even know my sizes? I mean it I won't wear it!" He said trying to grab the gakuen. Tsugumi pulled back, digging her feet in to get a better angle against the fitness freak.

"Will you two be quiet you're going to get us thrown out." Tsugumi and Black*Star jumped at the sudden interruption of their fight. Tsugumi took the chance to stuff Black*Star's gakuen into her pile of clothes while he was distracted.

"I'm sorry Maka!" Tsugumi said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Have you had any luck?"

"I've already found everything I need Tsugumi." Maka said with a huff, hands on hips. "I just had to replace my shirt so I went with the summer variant, since I already bought everything else the other day." She narrowed her eyes at Black*Star, frown creeping onto her face. "It doesn't take all girls ages to shop." Black*Star stuck his tongue out at her in response.

"So we can leave already right? I'm getting hungry." Black*Star said, speaking rapidly as he scooped up his work-out clothes and Tsugumi's own pile and made a break for the cashier.

"You're always hungry Black*Star!" Maka said, sighing. Tsugumi sighed as well, guessing that this was as much as she could hope for from these two now, though she was glad they hadn't come to blows.


	2. Harudori-senpai

Chapter 2 – Harudori-senpai

 _Today's the first day of school, so there aren't any classes. We all came to the opening ceremony, that's perfectly normal. What I was surprised by was that students without a partner are expected to hang around the school in hopes of scoping out the new students. While I am exempt since I have a partner, I think I'll stick around to give Black*Star moral support. But asides from that there's apparently going to be a special announcement as well..._

"Maka do they always make announcements before first homeroom?" Tsugumi said to her partner sitting on her right, keeping her voice low. Tsugumi was ignoring the welcoming speech being given by a teacher on stage. She tipped Black*Star's head as he began to droop forwards on her left, stopping him from toppling over and waking from his nap.

"This is the first time I've heard of one..." Maka said with a frown. "Hopefully it's nothing serious, I did hear about some attacks over the break but I thought they were just minor incidents."

"There have been attacks?" Tsugumi said, feeling a shiver run down her spine. "Was anyone hurt?"

"Not really, a few NOTs who stayed over the break where approached by Traitors a couple of times, but there were nothing worse than a few scrapes or bruises. If anything the Traitor who was unlucky enough to target an EAT got worse off, they got admitted to hospital in a coma." Maka said shrugging.

"What's a traitor?" Tsugumi asked, tilting her head to the side.

"It just refers to a normal person who tries to pick fights with DWMA to prove their strength. The term came about since 'traitor' has the same kanji as 'dojo destroyer', so they aren't anything special Tsugumi. Anyway, Naigus is going to tell us what the announcement is anyway so there isn't much point speculating. It's probably not related at all. Give Black*Star a pinch he needs to hear this too." That said Maka turned her attention back to the stage. Tsugumi frowned, but did as she was asked, Black*Star's head jerking back at her pinch. Tsugumi shushed him as he began to complain and pointed to the stage.

"First things first, I would like to personally welcome you all back to DWMA!" Naigus-sensei called out from her position behind the podium. "I'll keep this simple: over the break two students in EAT were offered a position with DWMA's Central Intelligence Agency, Akane Hoshi and Clay Sizemore. However this isn't the time for congratulations, circumstances have come up so the two have been asked to infiltrate the new NOT class to protect a VIP who will be joining the school under an assumed name. As such you will need to remember not to threaten their mission by revealing they are actually senior EAT students. We will be forced to hand out punishments if you do not comply."

"So Akane's going to have to hold some NOTs hand? That's some promotion." Black*Star said with a smirk. Tsugumi swallowed, ignoring the churning of her stomach. Akane had been one of her first friends at DWMA and one of the few men she felt comfortable with, so Tsugumi couldn't imagine school without him. How was she going to avoid breaking his cover?

"It does seem a bit pointless to me; if someone's attending DWMA they shouldn't need protection. They must be the child of someone important. I feel bad for Akane and Clay; they won't be able to practice or compete the entire time. Not to mention they'll be alone even though their surrounded by familiar faces." Maka said.

"Don't be so negative you two." Tsugumi said eyes narrowed and fist clenched, "We can still support Akane-kun and Clay-san!"

"What are you talking about when you say us Tsugumi?" The two meister said in sync, causing Tsugumi to pout. Though she wanted them to get along, they only every seemed to do it when working against her.

"Don't be like that! I visited Akane-kun's family dojo plenty of times over the break to train, I can use that to hang out with him without breaking his cover as a NOT. I just have to introduce you once Maka and it will be fine! And Black*Star has it even easier since they're related!" Tsugumi said, ignoring Maka's groan.

"Me? Oh no, I am not helping Akane babysit!" Black*Star said, crossing his arms.

"That so, good luck with that. I'm going to take this chance to borrow some reference materials from the library." Maka said jumping out of her seat before Tsugumi could catch her. "You two have fun."

"Maka don't abandon me here!" Black*Star said, reaching over the seat to grab her arm, Maka laughed back as she slipped out of reach.

"Do you think I want to go to the library with you Black*Star? And don't you have to go scope out the new weapons since you finally stopped leading Tsubaki on? Have fun!" Maka said as she ran out the auditorium doors.

"Then it's decided we'll go together!" Tsugumi said voice soft and smile. Black*Star slumped in defeat at she grabbed his hand and started to drag him along.

* * *

Tsugumi felt strange walking up to the new students welcome. Just last year she'd been so nervous, but this was also where she first felt confident at DWMA, when Maka asked to be her partner. "It feels weird coming back here to watch all the new students." Tsugumi said turning her head to look at Black*Star walking beside her down the identical corridors.

"You're starting to sound like an old lady Tsugumi." Black*Star said, hands intertwined behind his head and pouting. He was slouched and kicking his feet high in the air with each step, Tsugumi just hoped he wouldn't take someone out by accident.

"I do not sound like an old lady!" Tsugumi said, glaring at him. At his disbelieving snort she slumped over. "Anyway... You need to look carefully Black*Star any one of these students could be a good partner for you." She said as Black*Star rolled his eyes at her.

"Someone like me doesn't even need a partner, if no-one stands out why should I bother looking?" He said, stopping to lean against the wall, and staring past the new students out the window. Tsugumi tried not to feel defeated at his rebuttal, she was sure he could be a good partner to someone if he would just try.

"Well let's find someone that stands out..." Tsugumi scanned the students leaving the welcoming as she stood beside him. Tsugumi almost wished another fight would break out, that would make someone stand out to Black*Star, though she felt bad about wishing for something that could get people hurt. She caught sight of an older boy looming over a girl about her age.

"Don't be like that, I may not look like it but I'm a pretty amazing weapon you know?" He said, drawing out his words in a deep voice, though Tsugumi felt he didn't sound very suave with the way it was cracking.

"No, I'm fine." The girl said, even as she was forced to step back until she was against the wall to keep her distance as he leaned over her. Tsugumi felt bad for her, she would have been terrified if it had happened last year. She knew what Maka would do in this situation and figured it shouldn't be too hard. Tsugumi left Black*Star's side and walked up to the two.

"That's enough; you shouldn't try and force someone to be your partner!" Tsugumi declared hands on her hips, doing her best to look down her nose at the taller boy, having to look up even though he was leaning over. "Let's go." She said turning to the girl, grabbing her hand to walk away while he was stunned only to be stopped by another older boy standing in front of their path.

"You shouldn't get in the way of someone else's search for a partner." The second boy said, looming over the two girls. To her own surprise Tsugumi didn't feel the least bit intimidated.

"He wasn't looking for a partner he was trying to make someone be one, that isn't how it works." Tsugumi said, letting go of the girl's hand. The first boy, the apparent weapon became offended at that, moving to stand beside the second boy.

"Are you picking a fight with me?" He shouted his fists were raised in front of him. "Strength reigns supreme at DWMA! You really want to go there?" He asked, Tsugumi raised her eyebrow at the challenge from the NOT student.

"Picking a partner is an exception, if you can't understand that you aren't going to get far here." She said raising an eyebrow. "Can't you take advice from your senpai?"

"If you can't I'll gladly beat you up!" Black*Star said from the front of the growing crowd. All eyes were watching them, Tsugumi was sure everyone was gleeful at the chance of seeing a fight. Black*Star swung his arms out, nearly hitting the girl behind him, she didn't notice too focused on watching Tsugumi.

"Shut up, you stay out of this!" The weapon boy replied, Tsugumi sighed realising there was no way to deescalate the situation now. "Are you going to fight or not? Transform." That said he began transforming into a weapon, the other boy taking him in hand. "What do you think about this? I can transform perfectly... except for my head!"

"Wow, that's a really inconvenient place to be unable to transform..." Tsugumi said to herself. Rather than being intimidated Tsugumi felt this was less impressive than the guy last year, who couldn't transform his hand. She figured that the way his face was being gripped since his handle didn't form correctly probably hurt.

"He turned into a weapon, let me help too!" Another girl offered, pushing past Black*Star. "People like this are vulgar slobs." She said, clicking her tongue as she looked the two boys over. Looking the girl over from her long blond hair to her high heels Tsugumi thought about her offer. Tsugumi was concerned about fighting a meister armed with a weapon for the first time, even if he was a NOT. But she had been training all this time to be of use even when Maka wasn't wielding her on a mission. Tsugumi figured she'd just have to have confidence in the effort she'd put in over the break.

"Don't worry about me I'll be fine." Tsugumi said to her, with a smile. "I wouldn't be much of an EAT student if I lost to those two. You just stay back okay?"

"Oh, alright..."The girl said, taking a few steps back to stand with the crowd, grabbing the originally targeted girl's arm, forcing her to follow. Tsugumi felt at ease knowing they were right by Black*Star, if the fight did end up heading that way the only ones in pain would be the two boys.

"You have to be kidding, a flat chest girl like that is in EAT?" The meister said, raising an eyebrow at Tsugumi. Tsugumi settled into a basic stance, face set in stone.

"Believe it or not I won't lose." Tsugumi said. This was enough to fire up her opponents, they charged at her weapon held out in front. Exhaling, Tsugumi side-stepped past the blade and sunk her hardened fist into the gut of the meister, suddenly halting his momentum. All the air in his lungs was forcefully pulled from his body by the blow. Taking advantage of the moment Tsugumi circled around and kicked the back of his knee with her own.

"What the hell?" The weapon cried out, as the meister feel to his knees. The meister was struggling to catch his breath.

"This is the end!" Tsugumi said her confidence soaring at landing two successful blows on the meister. She raised her leg for an axe kick; he was so tall that even on his knees he was still almost as high as her foot. But it was enough; she slammed the back of her foot, transformed into a scythe into his skull. The meister went down, head meeting the floor knocking him unconscious. Better yet for Tsugumi, he had collapsed on top of the other boy, still transformed. Tsugumi could hear the muffled complaints of weapon. "I won..." She said, her entire body feeling fizzy.

"Awesome Tsugumi, you killed him!" Black*Star said, running up to her and offering a high five. Tsugumi blushed accepting the gesture. "I never knew you had it in you." He said.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm a member of EAT too..." Tsugumi said pouting, though her heart wasn't in it. The two ignored the call for the nurse and the dispersal of the students, already used to it.

"Excuse me senpai..." A voice interrupted, Tsugumi and Black*Star turned to see the girl she had helped. Along with the blonde who had tried to help out. "Thank you for helping me."

"Oh don't worry it was no trouble." Tsugumi said. "Come to think of it we never introduced ourselves, I'm Harudori Tsugumi, and you two are?"

"My name is Meme." The girl now identified as Meme said giving Tsugumi a shallow bow.

"Anya..." The blond girl said, face flushing as she looked off to the side.

"This may be a bit forward of me, but I have a request. Would you be my partner Harudori-senpai? I'm a bit soft in the head and always forget things but if you'll have me..." Meme said. Tsugumi was shocked at Meme's words, frozen in place. She couldn't figure out where that had come from, Tsugumi already had Maka as a partner, and she'd never thought about replacing her. Anya pouted and glared daggers into Meme's skull.

"Too bad, but Tsugumi already has a partner!" Black*Star said with a laugh. "Or does the little NOT think she's good enough to replace an EAT student?" He leaned forward right into Meme's face with a smirk. Meme faltered, fidgeting with her sleeves.

"I won't lose even to an EAT, let alone someone so unsuitable!" Anya said, pointing at Black*Star with her other hand on her hip. "Tsugumi-san should partner with me." Anya said. Meme huddled against Tsugumi's side clinging to her short sleeve.

"If Tsugumi already has a partner I just need to make her want to be mine instead." Meme said, with a small pout. Tsugumi face palmed, no matter how determined she didn't think Anya or Meme could hold a candle to Maka, the entire argument was pointless. Tsugumi had just been trying to find Black*Star a partner and somehow she'd ended up with two people wanting to replace hers. She hoped Anya and Meme gave up soon, Tsugumi didn't think Maka would take having competition well.


	3. Witches Hour

Chapter 3 – Witches Hour

 _I know I was looking forward to being a senpai this year, but Anya-san and Meme-san are way off the mark trying to partner up with me. I'm just glad I managed to introduce them to Maka without her finding out their intentions. Hopefully I can keep it that way while helping them out. It's only the second day at school, so surely they couldn't have gotten into too much trouble yet, unlike me..._

Tsugumi spotted Anya and Meme sitting together at a table in the cafeteria. The two girls were slumped over, and Tsugumi noticed the table was bare. Eyebrow raised, she made her way over to them, setting her food down on the table across from them. "Good day Anya-san, Meme-san." She said with a smile. "Are you two okay?"

"Hello Tsubame-senpai!" Meme said with a wobbly smile. Her arms wrapped around her stomach, clutching her sides tightly. Tsugumi's eye twitched, saying Meme is scatterbrained may be a bit generous.

"Hello Tsugumi-senpai." Anya said, flushing when her stomach growled loudly.

"Aren't you two going to get something to eat?" Tsugumi said, tilting her head to the side. "DWMA has a worldwide menu so you'll surely find something you like." The two girls sighed.

"Well, I forgot where I put my allowance..." Meme said, tapping her fist against her head and poking out her tongue.

"That amount of money was so small I already spent it." Anya said, turning her head to the side and pouting. "Who would have thought that that's all we get for a week." Tsugumi put her head in her hands and sighed. She took a deep breath before thinking about what to do for the two girls.

"Alright I'll get you two lunches now, but you'll need to go apply for a part-time job at the office straight after this if you want to eat for the rest of the week. I know a good place to hire you ok?" Tsugumi said her eyebrow twitching as she smiled at the two.

Tsugumi tried not to feel too pleased as the two girls smiled wide as she gave them their lunches, as if it was the best dish in the world. Though she couldn't deny the mood had shifted to a more pleasant one. By the time Maka and Black*Star had caught up with her, having come from a meister only class, the three had already fallen into pleasant conversation that kept even the usually argumentative pair relatively harmless.

* * *

Tsugumi searched through the piles of paper for the Job Application Forms, hidden around the corner of the office. Finding them, she took two and made her way back to Meme and Anya, to find the two girls had being confronted by someone Tsugumi felt was vaguely familiar.

"Did I stutter? I said hand over your allowance for the week, how else are you going to compensate for bumping into me?" The pink haired gild said, hand held out as she stared down Anya and Meme.

"Kim-san," Tsugumi said, picking up the pace to get between the three girls. "You won't get anything from these two. They've already wasted their weekly allowance. They're here to apply for a part-time job." Kim turned to look at Tsugumi as she approached with a frown.

"So the princess and the scatterbrain are terrible with money? I shouldn't be surprised." Kim said with a shrug. Kim scratched her head, the sound of papers being flipped in the background. "Well if they don't have any money I guess I'll just have to ask their dear senpai to foot the bill for them, yeah?" Kim smirked, bringing her hand out in front of Tsugumi. "I'll do you a two for one discount charging just this week's allowance." Tsugumi sighed. She shouldn't be surprised that someone called The Witch of the Girls Dorm was so ruthless.

"Maka chop!" Maka said, suddenly slamming a book into Kim's head from behind. "You really should give it up Kim, you're never going to be able to fleece an EAT like that." Maka said with hands on hips, looking down at Kim's crumpled form as the older girl clutched her head.

"Yeah it's not like someone as weak as you have anything to threaten people as big as us." Black*Star said, followed by a boisterous laugh.

"Shut up, you flashy windbag!" Kim said, shaking her fist at Black*Star as she forced herself back onto her feet. She stumbled, trying to keep balanced and upright. Tsugumi felt bad for Kim, though she had never experienced it herself, Maka Chops were already infamous in EAT. Just getting up after being hit made Tsugumi's estimation of Kim rise. "I don't want to be lectured about common sense by someone who picks a name like Black*Star! What are you an anime character?" Kim said, face turning red. Maka laughed, though she covered her mouth with a hand.

"It actually is his real name though, so it's not his fault he's flashy this time." Maka said with a grin.

"Maka shut up!" Black*Star said, getting right up in her face. Maka started giggling trying to turn away, but he followed her. Tsugumi paid little attention to them, by now used to this behaviour. She watched Kim as the pink haired girl made her way to the forms section. Tsugumi wondered if she was taking the chance to escape and get on with what she'd come here for, but from what little she knew of Kim she doubted it.

Remembering why she'd brought everyone here, Tsugumi handed Meme and Anya a form each. She looked over the two's shoulders as they filled out the form. Meme needed to be reminded what she was doing and Anya seemed to have little common knowledge, so Tsugumi figured it would be better to keep an eye on them rather than let them make an obvious mistake. By now Maka and Black*Star's argument was paid little more heed than background noise, Tsugumi would only make an effort to intervene if they started getting too fired up.

As the two girls handed in their forms at the counter Tsugumi noticed Kim approaching. Tsugumi looked over the girls shoulder, reading what it said she blinked, rubbed her eyes and looked again. The form was for a name change, but it was for Black*Star. "Hey Black*Star!" Tsugumi said, calling to the still arguing boy across the room. "You better get over here and stop Kim from filing that form if you don't want to be called Blake for the next two years."

Black*Star blinked, stopping mid-rant, his face draining of colour. Maka snickered, her eyes now filled with tears. "Kim I'll kill you!" Black*Star said as he ran across the room, forgetting about his argument with Maka. Anya and Meme sidestepped out of his way just in time to avoid being run over. Kim was already turning to face Tsugumi from her place at the counter, mouth open, she was tackled by Black*Star.

"Please wait in line!" The person at the counter said, clicking their tongue. "She still hasn't paid the fee..." Black*Star jumped up from the tangle of limbs he'd made with Kim and grabbed the form from their hand. "Sir, you can't take that! It still needs to be filed." The person said, Black*Star slapped their hand away.

"This isn't even a name change for her anyway, so it doesn't count!" He said, glaring at the man. They flinched and took at step back from the counter.

"That's irrelevant there is no rule that says someone can't file a name change for someone else!" The person behind the desk said, holding their arms in front of their face. "Now return that form before I call a teacher!" They held out their hand expectantly.

"What form?" Black*Star said with a smirk. He shoved the form into his mouth, taking a moment to chew before swallowing.

"That was disgusting Black*Star, never do that again." Tsugumi said nose curled up as she helped Kim up from underneath his feet.

"I supposed you two had better go. You still have classes today, we'll stick around until a teacher deals with this." Maka said, pushing Anya and Meme out the door, ignoring their protests. Tsugumi rubbed her forehead and sighed. How is it the first day of school always ended with them getting in some form of trouble?

* * *

"Really you four, what are you doing interfering with office worker at the school?" Sid said his arms crossed as he looked down at the four students kneeling in front of him. He'd arrived to respond to the emergency call for help the worker had made. Sid hadn't been pleased to find out there wasn't an emergency and even less so when he'd heard Black*Star was bothering the staff.

"Tsugumi and I didn't do anything." Maka said, turning her head to the side with a pout.

"Yet you didn't step in to stop this?" Sid said with a frown.

"It's not my fault that stiff was going to fill out a name change form that I didn't sign!" Black*Star said frowning as he waved a fist at the worker still hiding behind the desk. The worker flinched and ducked under the desk. "What kind of stupid rule let's anyone change people's names?"

"Well it's technically not against the rules..." Sid said as the worker peeked from underneath the desk now, only to duck back under as Sid turned his own frown on them. "But it should be common sense that only the individual is responsible for their name. I'll bring it up at the staff meeting today. We shouldn't let someone abuse the loophole."

"But Sid it already has?" Tsugumi said, raising her hand. "Kim's done this before, last year she changed Mai-san's name to Eternal Feather and she couldn't get the office to change it back."

"Is that so Tsugumi?" Sid said, now turning his frown on Kim, who steadfastly ignored him as she stared at the floor. "I'll see about getting that fixed too, and you're going to have to be punished for this Kim." That said he grabbed Kim by the back of her jacket and pulled her up off the floor. Tsugumi had to admire his strength as Kim's entire body was being kept off the ground. "You three get off this time, go to class." As he began to turn to leave he stopped and looked at Black*Star. "I'm glad you stopped her, it would have been easy to break your promise by letting her change it for you." That said Sid left, still holding Kim captive.

"What promise?" Tsugumi said, turning to face Black*Star. He ignored her, face bright red as he looked away. Tsugumi pouted, she'd ask Maka later. There was no point trying to get Black*Star to fess up.


	4. Traitors!

Chapter 4 – Traitors!

 _No matter how much I try not to think about it, the time for Maka and I to begin taking missions is coming. I can't stop worrying about it! What if I goof up and put Maka in danger? I want to say it but I can't get the words out. To Maka missions are normal. She doesn't understand the fear regular people feel. So I guess I'll have to manage somehow..._

"It doesn't look like there are any good missions yet." Maka said pacing back and forth in front of the Mission Board. She was occasionally stopping to read one before scoffing and moving on.

"Knowing them, their keeping all the good ones back a few more weeks so none of the little people bite off more than they can chew." Black*Star said, arms crossed as he stood in front of the board. "It sucks, why do we have to be held back because other people aren't as big?" He pouted.

"Speak for yourselves. I don't feel ready for a difficult mission yet!" Tsugumi said. She shivered at the very thought of going out on what those two considered a good mission. Tsugumi walked up to the board to peruse the offered missions. "Surely there's a simple one we can agree on here..." Tsugumi stopped talking suddenly, her attention caught by an announcement on the board. "It seems like security around the school is getting pretty bad, they've finally put up a warning about the Traitors."

"So? It's not like they could hurt someone as big as me!" Black*Star said, rolling his eyes.

"But what about the NOTs, they'd be in trouble right?" Tsugumi said, turning to Black*Star with a frown. "I'm worried for Anya and Meme..."

"They'll probably be fine Tsugumi." Maka said, putting a hand on Tsugumi's shoulder. "One wrong move and those Traitors will end up on the wrong side of a killing spree." Tsugumi blinked at her partner, her frown melting away. The sound of students walking by chatting as they made their way to class all that could be heard.

"So we just need someone to drive the Traitors away? We could be the ones to do it!" Tsugumi said, nodding to herself. "The two of you are great at tracking and know the city well. With your Soul Perception Maka, and Black*Star's super senses we can find them right away!" Tsugumi said pumping her fist.

"What?" Maka said, grimacing. "Why in the world would we waste time tracking those guys down?" Sensing that her partner was digging in her metaphorical heels Tsugumi turned to Black*Star.

"I guess it was too much to hope you guys would want to swoop in and save the day." Tsugumi said with a shrug, the corner of her lips turned upward. "Don't blame me when someone else gets all the glory and becomes the talk of the school." Tsugumi said with a shrug.

"Like I'd let that happen!" Black*Star said, clenching his fists. "There's only one star here and that's me! I'll beat them all by myself!"

"Black*Star she's obviously playing you, by death don't fall for it so easily!" Maka said face palming.

"Sounds like it's decided, let's go beat some Traitors!" Tsugumi said, she and Black*Star linked arms with Maka. "Or do we need to call for a vote Maka?" Tsugumi raised an eyebrow at Maka, unable to keep the smirk of her face. Maka sighed, allowing herself be dragged along by the two as they headed over to the counter to let Aunty know their plan.

* * *

"There are a group of souls down by the alley on our right. You hear any trouble Black*Star?" Maka said, using her Soul Perception to feel out for people within a 500 meter radius. She craned her neck to look up at him from her place at ground level, Tsugumi over her shoulder in weapon form. Black*Star was silent, eyes closed as he knelt on the roof above them.

"Shut it, there's so much noise in the city this is hard you know..." He said back, though he kept his position. "Someone's screaming over there!" He said, eyes snapping open as he leapt from the roof to the next.

"I swear if we run into another couple getting it on I quit." Maka said pouting, as she ran after Black*Star, on street level. "I never needed to see that."

"Maka don't be like that, it was an easy mistake. Besides I think we scared them more than they scared us mentally." Tsugumi said, with a nervous chuckle.

Maka entered the alley, Tsugumi now gripped in both hands as she scanned the area. "Get down!" Maka said as she spotted three students in front of her trying to back away. As they threw themselves to the floor Maka jumped over them, swinging Tsugumi in front of her in a wide arc. Tsugumi's blade slammed into the stomach of the middle aged woman lunging at the students, slamming her into the wall. "That's one! There's another trying to get away on the other side Black*Star!"

"I got them!" Black*Star said, falling from the roof from their right landing on the back of the person trying to escape. The young man was immediately knocked unconscious by the impact. "This is all too easy for a star like me." He said turning to face the now cowering students with a huge smile and pointing to the sky.

"Quit showboat already!" Maka said chucking a trash can lid at his face. "Hurry up and tie these two up." Black*Star groaned as the metal lid bounced off his face.

"Why bother their so weak? This should teach them a lesson right?" He said, ignoring his bleeding nose. Tsugumi was sure that was going to be a giant bruise by tomorrow, and resigned herself to listening to a fake retelling of how he got it the next day.

"Something's not right about these guys. It's like their soul wavelength is muted somehow. It didn't even change a bit when we were fighting them. You'd think they'd be a bit scared you know?" Maka said with a frown, rubbing her chin with a hand as she spoke. "We'll drop them at the station just in case. Maybe the Investigation Unit will find something."

Tsugumi felt guilty realising they'd forgotten about the students they'd been helping. The entire reason she'd talked those two into tracking down Traitors was to help their fellow students after all. "Are you three alright?" Tsugumi said to the students. She offered each a hand up as Maka and Black*Star went about tying up the Traitors. Each taking it with wobbly smiles and cheer that didn't reach their eyes, Tsugumi couldn't fault them for that knowing she'd be terrified in that position. Well, Tsugumi assumed she would without Maka and Black*Star present, they'd probably be fine even if the Kishin Asura fell from the sky in front of them.

* * *

"I didn't realise it was possible for something to be even easier than those missions." Black*Star said pouting as they made their way back to school from the station. His arms linked behind his head as he walked.

"Why did you have to remind me?" Tsugumi said, covering her head with her hands. "I don't think I'm ready to go on a mission yet."

"I don't think it was easier so much as it was short since we didn't leave the city." Maka said as she walked beside them, nudging Tsugumi out of the way of a pedestrian with her shoulder while the older girl wasn't looking where she was going. "As it is Tsugumi and I still have plenty of time before lunch is over to make it to the demonstration we have to do for the NOT class."

"Well either way they're all going to be easy when I'm there." Black*Star said puffing out his chest with a grin on his face. "No way could anyone on Death's List take someone as big as me."

"And who are you doing those missions with then? Sid refused to give you permission to go solo. Are you going to hold a lottery or something?" Maka said rolling her eyes at him.

"Isn't Black*Star coming with us?" Tsugumi said, looking up from her hands at Maka.

"Tsugumi, why would we want to share missions with him? I don't want to spend the entire trip holding his hand." Maka said crossing her arms, looking away as Tsugumi pouted at her with large watery eyes. "I mean it; we're not going with him!"

* * *

Tsugumi fidgeted with her shirt as she waited for Sid to call them from outside the dance room. Tsugumi had been excited by the chance to help out when Sid had asked for a pair to do a demonstration but now she was nervous. She didn't want to embarrass herself in front of Meme and Anya.

"Don't worry so much Tsugumi. You'll kill it today if you just do what we have every other time we practiced." Maka said, clapping Tsugumi's shoulder with a grin on her face. "If anything this should be less frightening than dealing with those Traitors right?" Tsugumi nodded, though she didn't trust herself to talk just yet.

"What I'm going to do now is teach you how to control those powers of yours. In order to do that, I've brought a pain from the EAT class. Come one in." Sid said, giving the girls their cue to enter the dance room.

"Yes sir." Maka said, opening the door. Tsugumi followed her inside. She immediately picked out Anya and Meme in the crowd, noting that neither one seemed to be paired up yet.

"This is Halberd-Meister Maka Albarn and Demon Halberd Tsugumi Harudori." Sid said, gesturing to them when he called their name. Tsugumi waved to Anya and Meme with a smile as Maka opened her mouth to speak.

"Why are you here?" Anya said, raising her voice and pointing to Maka. "Isn't Black*Star Tsugumi's partner?" Maka choked at Anya's words as Tsugumi face palmed.

"Tsugumi you're such a cheater." Meme said, already at Tsugumi's side. "If you were going to switch partners it should have been me." Maka was turning red as the two girls continued to get up in Tsugumi's personal space demanding answers. Tsugumi knew an explosion was coming from her partner, Maka's eye was twitching and her soul was burning.

"Stop wasting your senior's time!" Sid said, chopping both Meme and Anya on the head with his clipboard. "You two get back so Maka and Tsugumi can start." The two girls followed Sid's instruction, still clutching their heads. Tsugumi sighed, nearly missing Sid whispering that at this point he'd take Black*Star partnering up with anyone.

Maka took a deep breath as she turned away from the crowd. Tsugumi felt her soul cooling down through their resonance. "Turn into your weapon form Tsugumi." Maka said without looking back.

"Okay Maka." Tsugumi said, transforming and landing in Maka's waiting hand. Maka turned to face the crowd of students.

"These two are going to show you guys the ropes. Both meister and weapon are human beings. Weapons are not objects." Sid said from off the side of Maka and Tsugumi, well out of their attack range. "If both weapon and meister stay on the same page the meister won't even need to put any strength into wielding the weapon for them to move."

Maka held Tsugumi's halberd form out balanced on the back of her hand. Tsugumi began spinning around her hand, travelling further up Maka's arm with each spin. As Tsugumi reached her elbow Maka's other hand snapped out grabbing the pole and swung the blade out, causing a rush of wind that blew all the way to where the NOTs stood at the wall. "But for this to happen, the meister must recognise the weapons will, and the weapon must recognise the will of the meister." Sid said, ignoring the wind tugging at his clothes as it passed him.

Now Tsugumi's weapon form was flying across Maka's torso and arms in an intricate pattern. Only for Maka to catch it in her hand as it reached her shoulder and go into a flip forward. She then leapt backwards reaching the other end of the dance room. To Tsugumi this routine always felt as if they were dancing, at least until they reached the conclusion. Maka had insisted they need to go the extra mile for extra credit. Personally, Tsugumi thought Maka was taking a bit too much from Black*Star's book, he had been the one to set Maka off when he'd laughed at how simple their routine.

"Soule Resonance: Wing Booster!" Maka said as she landed. Tsugumi willingly poured her share into the resonance. And with that the two disappeared as Maka jumped to the roof while swinging Tsugumi. Only to immediately jump back down at another angle with another swing. All around them the air became chaotic, each swing causing a new gale as Maka continued to jump from the ceiling, the floor and all four walls. Some NOTs screamed as they shot past, others tried to follow them, pointing and laughing. They'd made an impression if nothing else; Tsugumi was forced to admit to herself. They narrowly missed Sid, who simply sidestepped past the black blur coming behind him. Tsugumi was impressed by how easy he made it look, even Black*Star had trouble with this move, though they weren't using their maximum speed. Though she supposed Sid had to be good for Black*Star to not run him ragged.

Finally, Maka made her last jump from the ceiling, straight down and with a last minute flip landed feet first exactly where they had started. Maka dropped into a bow to the students, receiving enthusiastic cheering. Tsugumi felt relieved to be finished without messing it up, even as Maka righted herself and exhaled the breath she'd been holding with one hand to her chest. Tsugumi hadn't been the only one nervous about performing well.

"Alright, now everyone get into pairs." Sid said, stepping back into the centre of the room beside Maka and a now human Tsugumi. "Your seniors and I will be making rounds to help you improve so get to it."

* * *

Tsugumi looked around the room for Anya. The NOT girl had been upset ever since she found out Maka was Tsugumi's partner, and her mood had worsened when Sid had paired her up with Aaron for the exercise. She hadn't managed to make any progress with the shy bow weapon. "Did she leave already?" Tsugumi said, looking at Maka.

"She must have. You want to go looking for her or something?" Maka asked with a pout. Tsugumi realised she wasn't dealing with just one pouting meister, at least by now Meme had surely forgotten and left...

"Tsugumi-senpai let's look together." Meme said, grabbing a hold of Tsugumi's arm. Tsugumi sighed; it seemed she had to deal with three pouty meister after all.

* * *

"Someone help!" Tsugumi heard Anya say, the other girl screaming at the top of her lungs. It sounded like it was coming from further down the street. Anya must have been heading straight for the dormitory like they'd thought after all. Tsugumi frowned. Did Anya run into a Traitor so soon? They'd only arrested two of them a few hours ago.

Tsugumi snapped out of her thoughts as Meme and Maka raced past her, heading towards the sound of Anya's scream. Tsugumi transformed into light, flying towards Maka faster than she was able to run. Maka caught her without looking, picking up speed as the two poured more power into their resonance in preparation for combat.

It was Meme who reached Anya first, having had a head start. The NOT girl shoved a grown man away from where he loomed over Anya, pushing him back a few steps. Maka gave him no time to recover as he stumbled backwards, attacking with Tsugumi's spear head with a thrust straight to his chest.

"Anya-san are you ok?" Meme said, crouching beside her. Tsugumi scanned Anya for any sign of injury. Anya seemed fine though she was holding her left arm close to her body. Tsugumi hoped it was just a scratch.

"I really wish my bad feeling about these guys hadn't come true." Tsugumi said as Maka settled into a defensive stance between the Traitor and the two NOTs.

"It seems these guys are even crazier than I thought. Just how many of them are there anyway?" Maka said, grip tightening on Tsugumi's pole. 'We can't just attack carelessly. Last time we had the element of surprise but now there's a risk of these two getting caught up.' Maka thought to Tsugumi through their resonance. 'If he runs we'll let him go this time. We can always follow him before he gets out of our 500 meter range.' Tsugumi sent a feeling of agreement back.

The Traitor began to smirk, shifting his weight between his feet. Tsugumi caught sight of dark figure to fall from the sky from behind him, and relaxed. Maka smirked as well, both knew what was coming. The flat of Clay's great sword blade slammed straight into the Traitors skull, slamming it into the pavement.

Clay made his way over to Anya and Meme, stepping over the Traitor's unconscious body. He checked them over and asked if they were alright. Tsugumi kept one eye on them even as she turned to Akane. "It looks like we made it just in time, thanks for the assist Maka-senpai." Akane said with a smile as he grabbed the back of the traitors vest in one hand. Maka smiled back as Tsugumi transformed back into a human.

"If you're so grateful then you can call Black*Star that while I'm present." Maka said, raising an eyebrow. Akane shuddered at that. Tsugumi had never seen him make such a face before. Akane was normally so stoic, but considering how Black*Star would react to being called senpai, she felt it was fair.

"I'll pass thanks." Akane said, making Maka laugh. "Since your here, can you escort those two back to the dormitory? We'll drop this guy off." Maka nodded. Akane stepped closer leaning in towards the two and lowered his voice. "We need to see about starting an investigation into the Traitors, counting the two you caught earlier and one that we did; this is the fourth arrest in a single day." Maka and Tsugumi frowned; it seemed the situation was even worse than Tsugumi had thought.

"Sounds good, I'll let you deal with all the pleasures of the police just this once Newbie..." Maka said so that Anya and Meme could hear. "Alright you two, let's head back." Anya opened her mouth to argue, Tsugumi gave her a shove forward. Neither EAT willing to hear any dissent at this point, they'd get the two back to the Dormitory safely and check Anya hadn't been hurt.

* * *

Anya panted as she sat on the couch, her face flushed and covered in sweat. As she finally released her hand from its grip on her left arm Tsugumi reached out and pulled it toward herself. "So you were hurt Anya-san. Maka get the first aid kit."

Maka came up behind Tsugumi and waved the box in front of her face. "I've already got it. Pass her arm here." Tsugumi made space beside her for Maka as the younger girl set down the first aid kit, and opened it.

"This is nothing." Anya said, trying to pull back her arm from Tsugumi's grip.

"You're pale and running a fever. If anything I should call Medusa-sensei down here to check for poison. I'll cover it for now so she can swab it." Maka said, looking Anya in the eye.

"Hey move it." Kim said suddenly behind the two EAT students. Anya and Meme jumped at Kim's sudden appearance. Tsugumi was glad that resonating with Maka let her piggy back off her Soul Perception a bit, otherwise she'd have died a thousand times over from the jump scares DWMA students loved to pull on each other. Maka turned and looked at Kim, looking into the older girls eyes before nodding and getting up and out of the way. "Let me see that scratch Blondie."

Anya protested, though Kim ignored her, gabbing Anya's arm and staring at the scratch. After a moment staring and humming to herself Kim looked up at Anya's face. "Your arms are smooth and shiny." Kim said with a blank face. Anya flustered, her already flushed face getting even redder to Tsugumi's amusement. Kim took the chance to slap a band aid onto the scratch; in that moment Tsugumi could swear that Kim's fingertips had glowed with a soft golden light and that the air had felt almost cosy like a warm hug from her mother.

Kim stood up and began walking away. "It was a simple scratch. You just felt off since you just came inside."Kim said, turning her head to look back at Anya. Anya and Meme relaxed at Kim's words, Meme slipping in to sit beside Anya.

Tsugumi watched Kim go, feeling something important had just happened. She turned to look at Maka hoping for an explanation. Yet Maka's face and soul were both closed off to her, face smoothed into a thoughtful frown which told Tsugumi nothing about what she was thinking. "Maka?" Tsugumi said, causing her to blink.

"Don't worry about it Tsugumi. If Kim feels like coming out in the open we can talk about it then." Maka said with a smile as she patted Tsugumi on the shoulder. Tsugumi looked at Kim; the other girl had stopped at Maka's words, standing completely still. "It's not my place to tell, it's not like she's done anything wrong. If anything it would be useful if she did it again." Maka said looking at Kim's back. Kim fled up the stairs; Tsugumi wondered what Maka could possibly have figured out to make her so unsettled.


	5. First Mission

Chapter 5 – First Mission

Tsugumi walked behind Maka and Black*Star, hugging herself tightly. The distance between them growing larger as both confidently strode forward. "Wait for me!" Tsugumi said, they continued walking, giving no sign that they heard her as they threw banter back and forth. Tsugumi jumped as she felt something cold slide across her leg. She slapped a hand against her mouth to muffle the sound of her scream as she turned around and looked for the source. Nothing was there. The dark alley was empty behind her. "Guys let's head back!" Tsugumi said turning back to Maka and Black*Star.

Tsugumi screamed, tears running down her face as she collapsed onto her knees. Maka was face down on the alley floor, blood running down the side of her head and pooling around her. "Maka wake up! Black*Star please help..." TSugumi said, her body trembling.

"Tsugumi, you've got to transform!" He said voice faint as he dug his fingers into the assailant's *Star's feet dangled in the air as he struggled to breath under the force of the large hand wrapped around his throat. Black*Star was slammed against the wall with a sickening crunch. He was slammed against the wall a second time, before the hand released him. Black*Star slid down the wall, he wasn't moving anymore.

Tsugumi froze as she felt cold air blowing against her ear. She turned her head to the side slowly, a formless shadow looming over her. Tsugumi knew then she was going to die, without Maka and Black*Star she'd never stand a chance. She figured it served her right; she hadn't been able to save them. She closed her eyes as a hand gripped her skull and started squeezing, a scream of pain ripped from her lips.

Tsugumi's eyes snapped open as she flung herself into a sitting position. She was breathing hard covered in sweat, her skin cold. Tsugumi turned to look across the room; the tension disappearing from her shoulders at the sight of Maka's sleeping face under the dawn light. "It was just a dream." She said, holding her face in her hands. Tsugumi wished they would stop trembling. Maka was here safe and Black*Star must be still asleep back at his apartment.

 _No matter how many times I have that dream I can't stop myself from being terrified. Maka and Black*Star die the moment I take my eyes off them. This needs to stop, I'm being ridiculous. Maka and Black*Star aren't that weak, I'm being worried for nothing. We'll be fine, we have to be fine. There's no way they'd die on a mission. I'll prove it when we to myself today. Nothing will go wrong, I won't fail them..._

* * *

A few hours later Maka and Tsugumi stood side by side in front of the mission board. Black*Star ran up to them with a grin. "There you are Black*Star!" Maka said putting her hands on her hips and frowning at the blue haired boy. "We've been waiting for you for ages!"

"Don't be like that Maka, I found a good mission!" Black*Star said holding out the paper for them both to see. Tsugumi's eyes were drawn to the official DWMA stamp staring back at her in bright red ink.

"You already got the request accepted?" Tsugumi said flinging her arms out. "What happened to deciding together?" Tsugumi didn't want to consider just what kind of mission Black*Star would pick by himself.

"Let me see that." Maka said snatching it out of his hands. She narrowed her eyes at the page as she read it, before nodding. "It looks good." Tsugumi felt tears welling up in her eyes, having Maka's approval didn't make her feel any better about the mission. Maka kicked Black*Star in the shin, frowning at him. "Next time ask before you give it to Aunty though."

"Never mind that let's go!" Black*Star said with a grin. He raised his fist into the air and gave a cheer. "Our first mission awaits us!" Tsugumi felt her stomach sink as the two linked arms with her and dragged her along with them. She really hated it when the two of them worked against her. Just what kind of horrors where they supposed to be hunting down?

* * *

The mission turned out to be hunting down an the 25 members Boston Branch of the Patriarch Crime Family. They'd caught a flight to the city after they'd left the school that morning. Tsugumi had spent the entire flight trying to keep her breakfast down after hearing the mission details. When they arrived they'd scouted out the area and found their targets hiding out in a warehouse just after dark. Tsugumi couldn't say she was surprised that Maka and Black*Star had decided to storm the place while their targets were grouped together, but if she died tonight she'd haunt them for the rest of their situation had devolved into chaos the moment they'd barged through the warehouse door, bodies flying everywhere as Maka and Black*Star descended upon their targets.

Tsugumi fought down a scream of fright as Maka charged straight at one of the monsters. The former Patriarch crime family's appearance warped beyond what Tsugumi could consider calling Human. They'd cleaved a deadly path through 23 members of the Boston faction already, though each time Tsugumi felt the next one would be their undoing before Maka ran a blade through them. Black*Star had been herding them around the entire time, a flash of blue hair catching Tsugumi's eye from time to time as he passed the two girls by whenever a member looked ready to make a break from the warehouse they'd trapped them in, either by door or window.

Having killed the 24th member Maka ran across the walls of a building using Wing Booster, and pushed off the wall at the last member. "Alright, time for the 25th soul!" Maka said, as she thrust Tsugumi's spear head through their skull. The two released the resonance technique as Maka landed with a skid across the concrete floor. "Alright we've got them all. Time to wrap it up for the night Tsugumi." Maka said with a grin.

"Finally, I thought we were going to die the entire time!" Tsugumi said. Tsugumi sighed as she transformed back into human form. She rubbed her shoulders trying to remove the tension she'd built up during the fight.

"Yahoo, that was awesome!" Black*Star said as he ran up to the two girls. "Did you see that? A star just tore through all those guys, it was a massacre!" He lifted his hand in the air with a grin on his face.

"Yet it was Tsugumi and I who landed all the finishing blows." Maka said raising an eyebrow at Black*Star.

"But I'm the one who got up first thing in the morning and found the hardest mission we could take." Black*Star said walking to stand right in front of Maka with his arms crossed. "That muscle bound demon you call an instructor doesn't let people hold onto a mission without getting it approved."

"Well I guess this was one of the better missions we could take. The opponents were still too easy but there were at least a lot of them. It's great for our soul count. Tsugumi, you need to collect all those souls now." Maka said turning to Tsugumi and jabbing her thumb in the direction of the floating red orbs. The warehouse was quiet as Tsugumi blinked at her partner. Tsugumi wondered if she was missing something, Maka hadn't said anything about how they were going to collect the souls.

"Collect them how?" Tsugumi said, face scrunching up. "I didn't bring a bag big enough for all these souls." Black*Star started laughing. He covered his face and turned away, clutching his sides. Tsugumi could hear him chanting the word bag under her breath.

"Tsugumi you're supposed to eat them." Maka said raising an eyebrow. Tsugumi spluttered, taking a few steps back from Maka. She looked to Black*Star hoping he would contradict Maka, but he was now rolling on the floor as he clutched his sides, laughing louder than ever.

"I don't want to put someone's dirty soul in my mouth! Just thinking about it makes me want to hurl." Tsugumi said gripping her stomach with both hands. Was this a Death Child thing? Surely DWMA didn't really expect her to eat souls, though it would explain Soul Eater's choice of stage name...

Tsugumi Soul Count: 25/99 & 0/1


	6. Rivalry

Chapter 6: Rivalry

 _Since Maka, Black*Star and I managed to complete our first mission, I can sleep without worry now. Though I don't want to think about having to eat another soul, I don't care what Soul Eater says, having something tasteless with the consistency of jelly going down your throat is terrible! It's not like my days are trouble free though, there are still Traitors running around targeting NOTs no matter how many we find and capture. And even worse for me, Anya and Meme are getting really fired up about replacing Maka as my partner. They even tried picking a fight with Maka while she was sleepwalking in the kitchen, and if that beat down wasn't enough to change their minds I don't know how I'm supposed to make them stop. They won't listen to me at all!_

"Maka Albarn I challenge you!" Anya said standing tall, swinging a finger out to point at Maka, right in the younger girls face. "When I win Tsugumi-san will partner with me!" Anya looked down her nose at Maka, who was sitting at the cafeteria table, fork in her mouth.

"Me too, I challenge you Maba-senpai!" Meme said, waving her own finger at Maka's face. Black*Star choked on his food with a laugh. Tsugumi patted him on the back, refusing to look at the three girls. Just listening to them whenever they came back to challenge Maka gave her a headache now.

"For the last time my name is Maka, what do you want this time?" Maka said, resting her head against her hand. "I've already beaten you both in a duel. I get higher grades than you in more difficult courses. And I'm never going to agree to a waitress off no matter how many times you ask!" Maka sighed. "Can't you give up already?"

"This time will be different." Meme said clenching her fists. "Whoever gets the highest overall scores in the upcoming athletics test will win the right to be Tsugumi-senpai's partner."

"Exactly, even if we aren't in good as you in combat yet..." Anya said hands on hips. "If our overall specs are better than aren't we better suited to be her partner in the future?" Maka stood up, dropping her cutlery on the table and got nose to nose with Anya.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves, I'm number one overall in athletics for girls in EAT." Maka said, jabbing a finger against Anya's chest. "I'm not going to lose to a pair of NOTs. You don't even realise how big the gap between us is do you?" Anya took a step back, bumping into Meme. "If I do this, you're giving up on being Tsugumi's partner for good and finding someone else. I'm sick of having you butt in!" The two girls looked at each other before nodding.

"We agree." Anya said, holding her hand out, Maka took it and gave it a shake, making Anya flinch. Tsugumi felt sympathy for Anya, she knew Maka forgot to hold back her strength when she got excited sometimes and had gotten the bruises to prove it. Tsugumi was more surprised by the fact Meme managed to return the shake when it was her turn without wincing, it seemed the she had some strength as well. It was completely left of field from Tsugumi's perception of the scatterbrained girl.

"Black*Star come with me." Maka said, having not taking her eyes off Anya and Meme until they walked out the cafeteria doors. "You're going to help me make sure I crush those little brats so badly they die every time they hear my name." Black*Star blinked, still wheezing from having choked on his food. Maka scoffed and grabbed him by the back of his gakuen. "There's no time to waste, the athletic test is only a week from now!" Tsugumi let her head fall flat on the table with a thud, she knew better by now than to get in Maka's way when she got too competitive. She could hear Black*Star flailing as Maka dragged him from his seat, chair screeching in protest against the floor. Tsugumi ignored his plea for back-up. She was going to take advantage of Maka forgetting she was here.

* * *

The athletics test was finally over for both the EAT and NOT students. Maka sat arms crossed in the front row of the track field stands beside Tsugumi. Black*Star leaned over the back of the chair on Tsugumi's other side, a relaxed smile on his face. Anya and Meme stood side by side in front of them. Anya standing perfectly still, though her face was tinged pink and she was biting her lip. Meme shuffled from foot to foot as she looked at Tsugumi with wide eyes.

"Alright then, for the 100 meter dash, Maka had the fastest time at 9.28 seconds." Tsugumi said, reading the results she'd managed to copy down with Sid's permission. Anya looked away, tears gathering in her eyes. Meme's shoulders slumped as Tsugumi read the two NOTs scores. "Meme came in close second for shot-put with a best throw of 15.6 meters. Maka came first with 17 meters flat, a personal best." Maka smiled and puffed out her chest. Tsugumi ignored Black*Star reaching around behind her to flick Maka on the ear. "At 1.87 meters for the high jump Anya did the best out of all NOT girls." Anya looked back at Tsugumi, a smile tugging at her lips. Tsugumi felt a bit bad, she hadn't meant to lead the girl on. "However Maka managed to jump the maximum two meters, setting the record for best jump for EAT girls."

"There you have it." Maka said, swatting away Black*Star's hand as he tried to flick her again. "I won completely, so you have to give up on Tsugumi now." The two girls sighed and agreed. Meme was crying quietly, even as she offered Maka a final handshake before she left. Anya turned away the moment Tsugumi had declared Maka the winner, her shoulders shaking as she left. Tsugumi felt bad for the two girls, but she wanted the issue to stay dead now.

Black*Star wrapped an arm around Tsugumi's shoulders. She felt her stomach sink at the sight of his grinning face beside her own. "So since I scored even better than all three of them does that mean I'm the number one candidate for your partner now Tsugumi?" He said wiggling his eyebrows. Tsugumi pouted at him, feeling Maka bristle on her other side. Tsugumi didn't feel sorry for him as she ducked her head forward so Maka could slam her fist into his face. She hoped the nosebleed he'd receive would make sure he never made that joke in front of Maka again. Tsugumi wasn't going to put up with another headache inducing rivalry so soon after the last.

Tsugumi Soul Count: 25/99 & 0/1


	7. Defeat Common Sense

Chapter 7 – Defeat Common Sense

 _Maka, Black*Star and I have successfully completed another mission, the third so far. I may not be having nightmares about missions now, but each one leaves me feeling exhausted. I never thought I could be so terrified in my life, I think horror movies are ruined for me now... At least we've made it a habit to head over to Master's afterward, that's when I wind down._

Tsugumi leaned her arms against the table, holding her chin in her hand. Her eyes closed, letting the sound of Master grinding coffee and Maka and Black*Star's banter wash over her, the tension easing from her shoulders. "Did you hear that Kim-san's getting promoted to EAT? Apparently she's partnering up with Jacqueline-san now." Tsugumi said, opening an eye to look at the two sitting across from her.

"I don't really care. Kim was always ahead of the NOTs in her class. It was always her behaviour holding back her promotion." Maka said as she leaned back into her chair. "Let's just hope she doesn't start getting her partner to help her fleece people. Jacqueline's always been a follower more than a leader."

"But it sounds like Anya and Meme had so much fun helping the two of them get together." Tsugumi said with a pout. "I wish they'd let me in on it." Black*Star snorted and flicked Tsugumi on the forehead.

"Who would ask you? You've failed every time you get it in your head you want to help people get together." He said and Maka nodded at that. Tsugumi knew the two of them were just glad, because she always tried to include them in her plans. It wasn't her fault they couldn't see the appeal in helping other people. If she left them alone they'd bury themselves in training or books and wouldn't notice even if the Kishin Asura burst out from the pits of hell from beneath the school.

"Are you brats going to order or what? Well?" The waitress said, having walked up to their table. She blew a bubble with her gum as she looked down at them. Tsugumi flinched, head jerking out from her hands. Tsugumi hadn't noticed that Master had new waitresses.

"Today's Lunch Special." Black*Star said, resting his hand on the table and leaning back in his chair. He looked the waitress in the eye without hesitation. Tsugumi wasn't surprised Black*Star was unaffected, he still held the number one spot of most terrifying person to mess with that she'd met at DWMA, though he never turned his anger on her or Maka. And if he could keep his temper with Maka pushing all his buttons, Tsugumi knew she was perfectly safe with him, but everyone else wasn't so lucky.

"I'll have the spaghetti please." Maka said, straightening her posture out of the relaxed slump against the chair to sit up perfectly straight. Tsugumi recognised Maka's usual straight laced approach to challenges. Maka always made sure to act proper so no-one looked at her as being at fault when things got heated. She'd used the tactic all the time to great effect, usually against Black*Star. Though Tsugumi was pretty sure that was because everyone thought Black*Star would be the one to start something, because Sid always managed to figure out which one of them was at fault eventually.

Tsugumi realised she still hadn't ordered, she'd been staring at the waitress. "I'll have a pilaf please." Tsugumi said, giving the waitress a smile. She hoped the other girl would forgive her rudeness. The waitress wrote something down on her pad, still chewing her gum. She walked away without saying anything. Tsugumi turned her attention back to her friends, the two were making fun of all the times she'd failed to pair people up. Tsugumi forgot all about the waitress as she opened her mouth to defend herself.

The threes conversation was interrupted by a second waitress chucking their food towards the table. Tsugumi failed to stop herself from twitching as the plate landed in front of her, the tension from the mission before they arrived still high. Black*Star caught his before it landed with one hand and put it down in front of himself, reaching for his fork with the other. Maka's eye twitched as her plate landed in front of her, Tsugumi wasn't sure if it was because of the handling or because the order was wrong. It probably both if Tsugumi knew her partner. "This isn't what I ordered." Maka said frowning down at the plate.

"Like I care, eat your food or you'll regret it." The waitress said turning her head, already walking away. Maka picked up her plate and stood up. Tsugumi watched out of the corner of her eye, already putting her food in her mouth, as Maka walked past the two waitresses to Master's counter. She heard Black*Star let out a laugh when Maka ignored the looks the two were giving her and made her way back with the correct meal. She sidestepped the foot sticking out to trip her without looking down, and sat back down.

Tsugumi could practically feel the animosity for Maka being pointed in their direction from the two waitresses. It raised the hairs on the back of her neck and the tension which usually would have left her wouldn't go away. Tsugumi was relieved when the two's shift ended and they left. Even Master's apology for the two's behaviour and explanation about Liz and Patty Thompson's probation didn't draw out more than a passing sympathy from Tsugumi. She was sure she'd feel more strongly, if only she wasn't still so worked up from earlier. Tsugumi decided she'd take a nice long bath when she got back to the dorms to relax.

* * *

The three were walking back after eating at Master's, Tsugumi and Maka to the girls dormitory, Black*Star to his apartment. They hadn't gotten far from Master's when Tsugumi spotted Liz and Patty leaning against a store. Liz looked up and caught Tsugumi's looking at her. Liz smirked pushing herself off the wall and walked over to stand in front of them.

"Well what do you know; it's the cheapskates who forgot to give us our tips." Liz said as Patty made her way to stand next to her sister. Tsugumi found Patty's smirk to be far more disturbing, she might not be an experienced fighter yet, but if Tsugumi had to guess Patty would be the one to watch out for.

"Tips aren't used in Death City. Everyone gets paid a living wage." Maka said, hands on her hips as she looked up at Liz in the eyes.

"Yeah, even I know that!" Black*Star said with a smirk of his own. "You guys aren't bright are you?" Liz and Patty turned their stares from Maka to Black*Star. He wiggled his eyebrows at the two older girls. Tsugumi remembered that he'd been complaining about not having gotten enough out of their earlier mission. She sighed, knowing a fight would happen even if he had to goad the two girls into it.

"You patronising dick." Liz said, the smirk replaced with a frown, "Come over here." She jabbed her thumb to point back at an alley behind her. Tsugumi slumped over as she followed Black*Star into the alley. She didn't bother speaking up to support Maka when she asked why they had to willingly walk into the alley to get robbed. Tsugumi had half a mind to appreciate her partner's humour, but she felt worse for the two girls who had no idea what a bad idea it was to pick a fight with Maka or Black*Star.

"So are we going to fight or what?" Black*Star said, stretching his arms. He stood directly opposite Liz and Patty who were blocking the alley entrance. Maka kept her eyes on the three with her arms crossed, though posture was relaxed. Tsugumi could tell her partner wanted the fight to be over already, to her Black*Star winning was a forgone conclusion and Maka had a new book waiting for her at home. Tsugumi was envious of how at ease they seemed. Even from her place beside Maka behind him she still felt a bit worried.

"Well aren't you ready to go? Aren't you going to use a weapon?" Liz said even as she took Patty into her hand as the younger sister transformed. Tsugumi felt a bead of sweat run down her neck as Liz spun Patty's gun form around her hand before pointing it at Black*Star. Tsugumi didn't think using a gun was very fair, but was sure it wouldn't be a problem for Black*Star. She'd seen him fight meister with ranged weapons before and he'd never lost. Tsugumi was more worried about being hit by a stray shot, according to Maka's personal experience that really hurt. Black*Star giving Liz and Patty an even more painful beat down in revenge couldn't make up for that.

"I don't need one to win against someone as weak as you two. Want me to tie a hand behind my back? That'd be more fun." Black*Star said. He dropped into his standard guard stance.

"Are you trying to be a tough brat? This isn't a sport. Nobody fights on equal footing. Knife beats fists. Gun beats knife. Don't blame me when you lose, because you didn't seek every possible advantage. You're a special brand of idiot aren't you?" Liz said, whipped her hands out as she talked, a smile on her face. "It's just common sense."

Black*Star started moving the moment Tsugumi had taken her eyes off him to listen to Liz talk. He grabbed Liz by the wrist, on the side she held Patty and spun around so he could lock around her arm, keeping the barrel of the gun away from him. His left hand shot upwards, slamming into Liz's chin. Tsugumi could hear the sound of the impact from where she was standing.

Liz's face contorted in a grimace as the blow hit, before vanishing into particles of light. Black*Star spun on the ball of his foot, pulling his leg up for a kick. He jumped and his foot slammed into Patty's forehead as she rematerialised in human form with Liz's gun in hand. Tsugumi winced as Patty slammed against the ground. Patty's body convulsed as she rolled over and failed to push herself up with unsteady arms.

Black*Star landed on his feet and sighed. "Death, that wasn't even worth the effort." Black*Star said, running a hand through his hair. "Guess I'll stop here. Let's go you guys." That said he turned around and began walking out of the alley without looking back. Tsugumi took a step over to Patty, hand reaching out to offer a hand to her. Tsugumi would feel bad about leaving one of Black*Star's opponents to their own devices, everyone always needed to see Medusa-sensei afterward.

As Tsugumi reached Patty, the girl lifted up Liz, aiming at the Black*Star's back. Tsugumi opened her mouth as she raised her head to warn him. Maka was faster, her combat boot stepping on Patty's back, making the shot miss, hitting the alley. "Bad idea." Maka said, using Patty as a jumping board. "Black*Star may be an idiot but you lost. That'll just make him fight you seriously and I'm not helping him hide a body." Maka said looking over her shoulder as she walked out the alley. Tsugumi realised she was going to be left behind and ran after Maka, raising a hand to the two girls in apology.

Tsugumi caught up to Maka as she and Black*Star got back on the street and resumed the walk back. "Don't you think we should call someone to see if they're alright? Even when Black*Star isn't serious he's still too much for regular people." Black*Star huffed, linking his arms behind his head and turned his head to look away from Tsugumi.

"They'll be fine, they had the strength to try and catch him off guard even after that hit." Maka said with a shrug. "Besides you've never even seen what Black*Star's like when he fights seriously. That isn't enough to be impressed by."She said looking at Tsugumi with an eyebrow raised.

"But what about the Battle Festival, wasn't her serious when we fought?" Tsugumi said, towing her arms out. "We were going full whoosh but a little concentration and next thing I know we were all in the water."

Maka sighed and rubbed her neck, a blush dusting her cheeks. "No, that was half-serious. The whole point of hitting him with Wing Booster was to knock him out of the ring before he could adapt. I forgot to account for it being less effective since we weren't in an enclosed room for the fight." Maka turned to look at Black*Star. "Trust me Tsugumi; you'll know it when you see him serious."

Tsugumi felt faint, she'd always known Black*Star was strong. He'd kept his spot in her list as most dangerous at DWMA for it and his temperament. She didn't know what to do with this information, after all they'd gone through there was still more to his abilities? Tsugumi had seen him take on and win against so many powerful people. Tsugumi wasn't sure if she wanted to see Black*Star fight seriously, she was curious, but she'd only recently stopped getting scared when he got angry so she didn't want to adjust to a whole new level of intensity. Hopefully she'd never have to see it, after all when would they ever be in such a be dangerous situation that Black*Star had to fight seriously?

Tsugumi Soul Count: 43/99 & 0/1


	8. Study for Success

Chapter 8 – Study for Success

 _It feels like I've gotten used to the physical requirements of EAT. I no longer struggle up the school stairs and my performance in PE is improving. I'm even able to fight by myself a little bit, so long as it's against a NOT. On the other hand, I'm still getting average scores in theoretical classes. I'm being constantly tutored by Maka in order to keep it that way. But that's not enough right now with the Super Written Exam coming up. Maka's been studying really hard to get first place, Ox-san is really needling her about getting second place last year. So to make it easier on her we're having a study group today._

Tsugumi turned the page of the notebook she borrowed from Jacqueline as she finished copying down the information on it. "I'm glad we organised this. You're notes are thorough and easy to understand Jacqueline-san." Tsugumi said smiling at her. Jacqueline blushed and coughed into her hand, Tsugumi couldn't understand what she mumbled under her breath.

"I hate this! I don't want to study anymore..." Kim said, banging her fists against the table, eyes closed and filled with tears. "Why couldn't the straight laced chick be better at teaching?" Jacqueline turned pale, eyes narrowing as she turned to face Kim. Tsugumi had never liked studying but she didn't hate it as much as Kim. But Tsugumi knew Kim had to study if she wanted to transfer into the EAT class as Jacqueline's partner.

"Then go ask Ox to tutor you. I'm sure he'll spoon feed you all the answers." Jacqueline said as she linked her fingers together and rested her elbows on the table. Kim quietened down after that, opening up the notebook in front of her, pouting as she read. Tsugumi covered her mouth with her hand to hide her grin, she never got tired of seeing Kim being manipulated into doing what was best for her, and it made the older girl so much cuter.

"Death, why can't I get anything right?" Black*Star said, as he ran his hands through his hair with a whine in his voice. "This is too hard!" Black*Star said, before slamming his head down on the table. He stayed slumped over the table face down. Tsugumi rubbed his back in sympathy, she wasn't very academically gifted or familiar with the subject but was sure her chances at passing were higher than Black*Star's.

"You're never going to improve like that." Maka said with a frown. She grabbed Black*Star by the hair and pulled his head up. "You're not leaving until you get this right." Black*Star huffed at her, though Tsugumi knew from the way he straighten up in his seat and the frown on his face that he would keep studying. She knew he didn't like spending all that extra time in remedial classes and retaking tests.

Master's cafe filled with customers as the five continued studying, Liz and Patty were waitressing again today for their probationary work. Tsugumi could see the two in constant motion in order to keep up with the influx of customers. She felt bad for the two, but couldn't justify ditching studying to help them. Tsugumi was doing this to ease the burden she put on Maka's study time and that came first in her priorities.

The crowd of people squeezed inside the cafe was thinning out when a piece of crumpled paper bounced off the back of Tsugumi's head. She blinked at the impact, and picked up the paper in one hand. Turning around she saw that across the room two teens pointed and laughed at their friend, claiming he would never get into EAT with aim like that. Liz walked up to the three and folded her arms. "You're bothering the other customers. Get out already." Liz said, jabbing her thumb at the door. Tsugumi felt pleased, she'd managed to patch thing up with the Thompson sisters after that disastrous first meeting and now they fit into Death City well. And having Liz defend her, even if she was probably doing it as part of her job, Tsugumi felt they were closer to being friends.

The three boys stood up, their chairs scraping against the floor. They started protesting, demanding better treatment as customers from Liz. Tsugumi saw Patty marching over with a frown on her usual cheerful face and got up from her seat. Tsugumi ignored Maka as she asked what was wrong and started walking over to Liz.

Black*Star cut in front of Tsugumi to stand beside Liz. He slammed his open hand down on the table, causing the three to jump at the sound caused by the force he'd put into it. "Either stop bothering us or get out!" Black*Star said. Tsugumi stopped walking, and put an arm out to catch Patty before the other girl could join in. Feeling Black*Star had the situation covered, and not wanting it to escalate further, Tsugumi shook her head at Patty. Patty frowned but made no effort to push past Tsugumi, watching her older sister. Black*Star ignored the three boys as they each fiddled with their clothes or hair whispering excuses. "Can't you see I'm trying to study?" Black*Star turned to look each boy in the eyes, each flinching as he looked at them directly.

The three pulled some money out of their wallets and threw it onto the table. They ran out of the cafe without looking back. The last boy bumped into another customer who was entering without apologising. Tsugumi couldn't really fault them for running off scared, Black*Star was already cranky from having been studying for so long.

"Well it looks like you two have finally settled in and started doing your job properly." The new customer said, dusting off the shoulder of his suit jacket as he walked over to Liz. Patty groaned, and Tsugumi saw her rolling her eyes. Liz was blushing and choking on her own words, mixing swearwords and denials. "Anyway, you're late. Your shift ended 3 minutes ago, so hurry up. I will not tolerate being late to meet with my father."

"Shut up, we're going already!" Liz said, throwing an empty teacup from the table at his head. He caught the cup and set it down, impressing Tsugumi with how calm he was. Liz and Patty gave Master a parting word before disappearing to get changed in the staff room.

"Excuse me..." Tsugumi said, walking to stand across from the boy. "Would you happen to be Liz and Patty's partner, the DWMA VIP who caught them?" The boy blinked and looked at Tsugumi for the first time, his eyes going up and down her entire body, making her feel uncomfortable.

"Yes. I am Death the Kid, Liz and Patty's partner." Death the Kid said. "And you are Tsugumi Harudori. I've been hearing many things about you recently. It's rare for a student to draw so much interest so early in their study."

"What no, that can't be right." Tsugumi said, her face turning bright red as she waved her hand in front of her face. "I'm not anything special at all." Death the Kid raised an eyebrow but did not reply, looking over her shoulder at Black*Star.

"I'm not surprised to see Maka Albarn here either, but to have Black*Star here as well... It seems everyone that's been noticed recently is here." Death the Kid said. As Liza and Patty returned he began following them out the door before Maka and Black*Star could respond. "I suppose now I have an idea of where to find you if I have the time to follow up on the information in your dossiers. Please keep up the good work."

Tsugumi stared at the door long after Death the Kid had left, the cafe completely silent. "That was weird." She felt embarrassed still that people were apparently talking about her behind her back, though she had been aware that the school did monitor them to a degree. "Why is that guy a VIP at our age?" She looked at the others hoping for an explanation but no one had any idea. Tsugumi was left even more confused, Maka was the child of a Death Scythe and Black*Star the Head of the Witches Investigation unit, so how high up was Death the Kid if even they didn't know who he was?

Tsugumi Soul Count: 50/99 & 0/1

* * *

A/n: since this chapter is a bit short I decided to include the dossiers I wrote on Maka, Tsugumi and Black*Star's abilities. After the Battle Festival the three's abilities came under scrutiny by the staff, so these are Death the Kid's source of information.

Name: Maka Albarn

Gender: Female

Age: 12

Type: Meister

Ranking: 1 star

Partner: Tsugumi Harudori

Soul Abilities:

Soul Perception – senses nearby souls and wavelength in the area. Her current range is within a 50 meter radius. Maka is able to filter out unnecessary information to better track souls. She can perceive a basic amount of information about the emotional state. Maka has moments of keen insight beyond her current abilities, so it is believed she could sense further or in more detail if she tries.

Anti-Magic (Demon slaying/Anti-Madness) wavelength – Maka is not aware of this ability at this time. Unconsciously providing her with resistances to magic and insanity, and has a calming effect on those who resonate with her so they better resist magic and insanity targeting them. When used subconsciously in times of strong emotion these effects increase, and allows her attacks to deal more damage to witches, demons and those plagued with insanity.

Grigori Soul – No-one knows the exact abilities of a Grigori soul and Maka is not aware she has one. It can allow her to fly using wings created out of soul wavelength which respond in size and power of her emotions. These wings also allow for greater speed and strength in combat. Some research suggests that Grigori souls can use their wings in a long range attack by shooting feathers, but there is no proof. It is hypothesised that this ability can be used to allow a smaller soul hold large amount of wavelength in reserve based on Grigori potential. Maka has the highest Grigori potential ever seen.

Strengths:

Wavelength control – Maka has exceeding high control over her wavelength, trained in it from childhood and naturally adept at it like her father. This makes her more efficient in resonance techniques, getting better results from less cost. She can control large amounts of wavelength without trouble.

Physical strength – Maka is the strongest girl physically, despite her age, and is well above others in EAT. There is only a handful with greater strength than Maka, and even less when she loses her temper. This is amplified by her excellent control of soul wavelength, which allows her to reinforce her body so that strength beyond that of normal human being.

Endurance – Maka is able to pace herself well in fights. If pushed she can ignore fatigue and pain without dulling her skills. When her emotions are running high she has a habit of forgetting to keep her pace, though it rarely backfires.

Agility – Maka excels at jumping and flexibility, giving her a very agile form of fighting. She favours close quarters combat using her agility. This ensures she can close the gap between herself and an enemy, prevents them from disengaging her, and allows for minimal effort in dodging.

Intelligence – Maka has excellent sense for battle tactics and reasoning that allows her to evaluate the situation and enemy skills. This is often used in tandem with her Soul Perception and agility for her typical tactic of dodging as minimally as possible to counterattack.

Martial Arts – Maka has made great progress since she started training with Aunty, now she no longer has to rely on superior physical abilities and basic skills taught at DWMA. Her issues with discipline have been addressed and she has gained strong martial arts foundation. She favours using Combat Jujitsu to great effect.

Weaknesses:

Speed – Maka is above average, in part due to her being tall for her age, but is within normal range in EAT, being only a bit ahead of the majority of her class. This excludes using her Grigori soul abilities to enhance her speed as it is unknown if she can perform such feats alone.

Soul size – Maka's soul is still above average for her age, but is only average within her EAT class. Though she makes up for it with her control and the speed her wavelength regenerates. There is potential for this to change using her Grigori soul abilities.

Notes: Maka has a good physical base and has improved rapidly with instruction over the last year. There is still potential for her to grow even more soon, should she be made aware of and learn to use her unique skills effectively. Overall, she is ready to be promoted to 2 star meister.

* * *

Name: Tsugumi Harudori

Gender: Female

Age: 14

Type: Weapon – Halberd

Ranking: 1 star

Partner: Maka Albarn

Soul Abilities:

Weapon Transformation – Tsugumi as a weapon can transform into a halberd, with axe, scythe and spear blades. She is capable of partial transformations, favouring her hands and feet, into all three blade types. Tsugumi cannot at this time create blades from wavelength extending out from her body.

Anti-Magic (Demon slaying/Anti-Madness) wavelength – Tsugumi is not aware she posses it. This makes Tsugumi resistant to magic and insanity, and has a calming effect on those who resonate with her so they better resist magic and insanity targeting them. This wavelength is inherent to her weapon forms basic structure, so Tsugumi's blades are particularly effective against witches, demons and those plagued by insanity at all times. However, it does become more potent when Tsugumi is very emotional.

Grigori soul – No-one knows the exact abilities of a Grigori soul and Tsugumi is not aware she has one. It is known that it can allow her to fly using wings created out of soul wavelength which respond in size and power of her emotions, amplified by her weapon nature. These wings also allow for greater speed and strength in combat if used correctly. Some research suggests that Grigori souls can use their wings in a long range attack by shooting feathers, but there is no proof. It is hypothesised that this ability can be used to allow a smaller soul hold large amount of wavelength in reserve based on Grigori potential. Tsugumi has less Grigori potential than Maka, but in return her soul is larger.

Strengths:

Soul size – Tsugumi's soul is large in comparison to other weapons, though this hinders her ability to control her wavelength as she has only been training for a year. Overall the power and endurance this allows her counters the lack of control.

Soul flexibility – Tsugumi has the ability to manipulate her soul wavelength to resonate with others to a high degree, as she is very empathetic to others. Theoretically she could partner with many different types of people, or even more than one person at a time. This is not being capitalised on as she has a stable partnership in place, and her partner's wavelength is absurdly similar to her own.

Versatility and Attack Power (Weapon form) – Tsugumi has a high damage output, with a variety of types of damage depending on her blade type. The axe exerts extremely powerful brute force when used to strike an enemy, so much so that she keeps it blunted when sparring to prevent permanent injuries. The spear is excellent for piercing, with physical force being concentrated at the tip, but can be used to slice if necessary. The scythe blade specialises in slicing through opponents, thought being hit with the blunt side has been proven to be undesirable. This gives Tsugumi a variety of choices when attacking, focused around mid-range combat. Tsugumi's attack speed is average, though speeds vary between blades, with axe being the slowest and scythe the fastest. However, her versatility means she can flow from one attack to the next by switching between blades.

Weaknesses:

Wavelength control – Tsugumi lacks training in this area due to having trained for a year. This is compounded by her larger than average soul size and flexible nature. Indecision disrupts her control when confronted with choices. Tsugumi's control is therefore below average for an EAT student. She is wasting a large amount of soul wavelength, it is estimated that the amount of wavelength wasted by Tsugumi in a spar is high enough that a regular weapon would be exhausted and forced to return to human form.

Physical fitness – Tsugumi is above average for a weapon with a civilian background but below EATs usual standards in some areas. Endurance is a weakness in Tsugumi, as this must be built up over time. Physical strength and agility come in close second but are improving steadily over time.

Martial Arts – Tsugumi has no background of training in martial arts, and is still inexperienced. However, she has made steps to address this by picking up some basic instruction in Judo, both at school from Akane Hoshi and at the Hoshi dojo during her time at home. She is also applying techniques taught in lessons as support.

Intelligence – Tsugumi is still new to many concepts about the soul, but is being tutored by her partner to keep up with the EAT curriculum. She maintains an average grade all around in classes. Has been noted to bouts of creativity in application when pushed in combat, but is overall new to battle tactics and strategy. Tsugumi favours caution in combat.

Notes: Tsugumi still lacks formal instruction and is indecisive, but is working hard to build a solid foundation. She also posses unique abilities that will allow her to be a powerful weapon in the future, though more training is needed for her to be able to use them effectively.

* * *

Partners - Maka and Tsugumi

Soul Abilities:

Soul Perception –Tsugumi increases Maka's range to 500 meters. This is attributed to Tsugumi's large amounts of soul wavelength and the stability of the resonance the two shares.

Anti-Magic (Demon slaying/Anti-Madness) wavelength – As both possess the wavelength there appears to be synergy occurring from their resonance, making it more potent than their baselines.

Grigori Soul – As both possess a Grigori soul, it seems there is synergy causing them to use the abilities more easily than was hypothesised. It seems they have unintentionally used some abilities because of this. It is unknown whether either girl uses this ability to alone, but it is assumed they cannot.

Soul Resonance techniques:

1b 'Shining Blades' – This technique focuses soul wavelength with anti-magic properties into the blades combined with blade manipulation to sharpen. The two are unaware of the use of anti-magic wavelength in this technique. Potency varies depending on the emotional state of the two girls, and the upper limits are unknown.

1b 'Shining Light' – This technique emits soul wavelength in the form of light from Tsugumi's weapon form. The light is imbued with anti-magic wavelength, giving it a dampening effect upon abilities based in magic or soul wavelength filled with madness. This is area effect also reduces the amount of insanity and magic in the surroundings, the amount varies based on the power output and emotional state of the two users. Seems to require far higher amounts of soul wavelength than 1a, compounded by range and duration costs.

2 'Wing Booster' – This technique increases the speed and strength of the one using it by creating wings made out of soul wavelength. The effects vary depending on which girl is using it. Maka emits wings from various parts of her body (wrist, ankle, back, head), and is capable of short term flight, trajectory and momentum manipulation. Tsugumi is capable of true flight when the wings are emitted from her weapon form. While she can use the technique to fly longer and with heavier loads, her ability to move in the air is far less controlled than Maka's. This is likely because weapons have an amplification effect on soul wavelength, as Maka is has higher potential and control over her abilities.

Notes: Tsugumi and Maka are excellent partners. Their souls are exceeding similar and yet their weakness and strengths tend to cover the others in combat and beyond. Tsugumi is thriving with an experienced and driven partner. Maka seems to be benefitting from a supportive partner, with the concerns about her social isolation and discipline problems being moderated. Overall, promotion to 2 stars is reasonable, Maka is already qualified and Tsugumi's rate of growth will allow her to catch up soon. The potential synergy between two users of Anti-magic wavelength and Grigori soul is worth further investigation, for use in the future and improve knowledge about the two abilities.

* * *

Name: Black*Star

Gender: Male

Age: 12

Type: Meister

Ranking: 1 star

Partner: None – approved for solo combat

Soul Abilities:

Soul Menace – Black*Star is able to attack by shooting his soul wavelength into others. This causes internal damage as well as destabilising wavelengths and resonances. Contact causes explosions that will knockback an opponent and damages to inanimate objects. As a prodigy with this ability Black*Star can use it from a point of contact from any point of his body on his own. His wavelength is immense and unstable, so he is able to create dissonance in his own soul without relying on another person. Black*Star has two unique techniques using soul menace, Soul Force Cannon (concentrated attack for greater damage and knockback) and Black*Star's Big Wave (diffused attack causing area effect with minimal knockback).

Light Eyes – Little is known about Light Eyes, other than that it passes through families. Manifestation and uses are kept secret by the users, though it is believed to be rooted in insanity. Black*Star has previously been shown to manifest Light Eyes but seems to suppress them, which is unique in comparison to other known users, at a cost to his concentration and fighting power. Prior use suggests that abilities multiply in effectiveness when his Light Eyes manifest, along with a significant increases of his soul wavelength. Extended use appears to make him more aggressive.

Strengths:

Marital skills – Black*Star is a master of multiple fighting styles and can use them interchangeably. He has been approved to engage in combat unarmed, the only student to ever achieve this, and is able to fight with some of the world's strongest martial artists. Although he was originally trained for assassination, this is regularly ignored by Black*Star unless necessary to win. He has been noted to be purposefully expanding his repertoire and his skill continues to grow so the assassin designation requires revision.

Physical abilities – All of black*Star's physical abilities are comparable if not better than fully-grown Olympic athletes despite his age and small stature. His already impressive strength, speed, flexibility, agility, and endurance can be augmented by his wavelength to beyond the regular boundaries of the human body. He uses this for everyday occurrences, regularly jumping from the very top of the school building. He has never shown any sign of injury or tiring from this. His limit for enhancing his physical abilities is currently unknown even without factoring in a potential increase from using Light Eyes.

5 senses – Black*Star senses are supernaturally strong, and can be used in tracking. These senses assist him in battle, though no accurate measure has found how much so. Black*Star seems to be able to use hearing, sight, smell, touch and taste even in environments which should otherwise hinder his senses. It is unknown if he is further augmenting his senses with his wavelength or if he is capable of even more using Light Eyes.

Soul size – Black*Star's soul is the largest ever seen in a child, far surpassing most adults, and is continuing to grow at a steady rate. He has never been seen exhausting his wavelength supply though his body has given out when using Soul Menace too frequently. It is likely he will unable to use all of his power in Soul Menace until his body develops further. Observation is required to ensure his soul does not rupture under the pressure of his own power causing death, or become unstable enough to naturally produce madness like the previous record holder Stein. Black*Star's family history, inheritance of Light Eyes, and his naturally unstable wavelength should put him further at risk but he shows no signs of issues yet. As Stein and other subjects had showed signs during early development it is possible there were underlying issues not related to soul capacity. However, it is possible that Black*Star's regular exposure to anti-madness wavelength due to his closeness to Maka and Tsugumi is mitigating these side effects. Either way further research will enhance DWMA's knowledge managing those with higher soul capacity.

Weaknesses:

Wavelength control – Black*Star's control of his wavelength is unnaturally high considering his circumstances, as seen with his use of Soul Menace, yet is still below EAT standards. Black*Star's soul is naturally large, energetic and impulsive so he is not inclined to fine control, though he is not a risk of tiring due to his soul's capacity.

Resonance - Both his nature and capacity make it difficult to resonate, with most noting that having Black*Star wield them creates unbearable mental or physical strain. Even Tsubaki has noted that she was limited in how much wavelength she could use, and allowed the majority to escape lessening the burden. So their successful resonance in the few times they worked together it is attributed to her own skills at adapting. Caution should be used in resonating with Black*Star for weaker or unskilled souls. Added is the risk of instability and insanity in Black*Star's soul, which would have side effects on his partner if manifested while resonating. Recommended that he only be paired with rank 2 star or above, and wavelength that resists or lessens insanity desirable.

Intelligence – Black*Star is not academically gifted, though he can apply soul or physical concepts explained in classes. He regularly takes remedial lessons and retakes tests, though his rate of passing has improved since he started studying with Tsugumi and Maka. It is recommended that they never be put in a different class or his grades may fall to the lowest ever seen, however this is speculation as he has never been separated from Maka per Death Scythe's request for separate reasons. He doesn't favour tactics or strategy, but he can use both when forced, which is rare considering his strength.

Supernatural sense – Black*Star is able to see ghosts and souls outside the body as all students can. However, his supernatural senses are the lowest recorded. It is believed he is using his other senses to compensate for this. As inheritors of Light Eyes having an instinctive sense for the supernatural by the admission of other users currently attending DWMA, it is possible that Black*Star's supernatural sense is suppressed while hiding his Light Eyes along with his reduced concentration. Despite his low supernatural sense he has a keen sense for danger and murderous intent. He should also be easy prey for insanity and mental based attacks, but he has proven to be able to resist them when on guard for them, supporting this theory.

Notes: Black*Star is already a powerful combatant, whose growth has already surpassed 1 star rank. He is long past ready for promotion, despite arguments that his mentality and family history should mean he stays in the lower ranks to prove himself. Keeping him in the lower ranks has become detrimental to his mental and physical development, as he is stagnating. Worse is that Black*Star knows he is overqualified and has stopped taking lessons seriously. This is likely part of the reason he hasn't partnered up yet, he knows he doesn't need to in order to succeed where he is now.


	9. Killing the Market

Chapter 9 – Killing the Market

 _In the end I had to put the mystery that is Death the Kid aside to study for the Super Written Exam. I managed to raise my grades and escape the dreaded average score so hopefully I can keep it up. Even more impressive was that Black*Star managed to pass on the first go this time, though it was by one point it's still a personal best for him. On the other hand one point was all that stood between first and second place. Maka has been inconsolable ever since. Even our rising soul count isn't improving her mood so I've brought her to the Death Bazaar today to try and distract her._

"Why are we even here Tsugumi?" Maka said hugging a novel to her chest, she was pouting. It made her look the most childish Tsugumi had ever seen her when paired together with the oversized-shirt and sweatpants she was wearing. Tsugumi laughed while rubbing the back of her neck, Maka had been stubborn from the moment she'd found out today's plans. Though she hadn't wanted to go so far, in the end Tsugumi had needed to get Black*Star to pick up and carry her to the Bazaar. He'd disappeared the moment Maka's feet touched the ground and Tsugumi had to applaud the sense of caution he'd employed, both knowing Maka would try to take a swing at him.

"Well you need a break from studying! The next Super Written Exam isn't for a whole year if you try to study the entire time your mental health will suffer Maka. So today let's just have fun ok?" Tsugumi said directing her biggest smile at Maka. "I'm curious about what we can find, we've never bothered to come to the Bazaar before." Tsugumi said as she shaded her eyes and turned her head to look at the stalls surrounding them.

"You're way too excited Tsugumi it's just a regular flea market." Maka said. She started to walk so Tsugumi followed her, keeping an eye on Maka and another at their surroundings. Tsugumi grimaced as a stall operator tried to sell her a used shell casing, along with others selling a variety of other gory wares. Tsugumi lamented the fact that her partner's sense of normality was so warped, she had been in Death City for a year yet the morbid nature still snuck up on her occasionally.

"Looks like we're not the only ones out for a fun day Maka!" Tsugumi said pointing past a group of people at Anya and Meme. "Anya-san looks so excited, has she ever been to a flea market before?"

"If we're going to have fun I'm not listening to Anya coo over junk then try and call us poor again." Maka said, her whole body shuddering. Maka grabbed Tsugumi's hand and began dragging her off in the opposite direction. "Maybe I'll get lucky and catch Black*Star before he hears me coming!" Maka said as Tsugumi struggled to hear her over the noises of the Bazaar. Adults and children were talking and laughing as they passed them, as well as the stall operators yelling to draw customers. There were also sudden bursts of noise as fireworks went off in the distance as well as the occasional balloon.

"Would you stop letting everyone barter you down?" Soul Eater said. Tsugumi and Maka turned to see him and Ao sitting at a stall. "If you keep giving this stuff away like that how are we going to afford that motorbike? I thought you star clansmen were meant to be stingy!" Soul Eater said pinching his partner's cheeks. Ao mumbled incoherently through his grip on her face, though to Tsugumi she appeared to be smiling.

Tsugumi took advantage of Maka pausing to drag her partner over to the two. "So you opened a stall Soul Eater?" Tsugumi said, letting go of Maka's hand to kneel beside some of the wares. Soul Eater and Ao's stall was filled with a variety of Jazz records and girl's accessories. Tsugumi picked up a matching pair of star shaped hair ornaments as Soul Eater let go of Ao's face.

Soul Eater fell back off his knees and crossed his legs. He slumped over, resting his chin in a hand braced against his leg. "Yeah, you want anything the prices are all labelled. I'm not cutting you a deal." Ao puffed out her cheeks and pouted as she rubbed her pink cheeks.

"Don't be like that Soul, Tsugumi and Maka are our friends so we should just..." Ao said, stopping as Soul frowned at his partner and clicked his tongue. Ao crossed her arms and turned away, Tsugumi could just make out a frown on the usually cheerful girls face.

"Sound good." Tsugumi said. She checked the label by the hair accessories and grabbed a second pair in another colour. "I'll take both of these then." Tsugumi handed over the money to Soul Eater before slipping the hair accessories into her backpack. Tsugumi stood up, dusting of her knees. "Did you see anything you wanted Maka? Do you like Jazz?"

"No..." Maka said, she continued to talk as she looked away quieter than Tsugumi could make out. Tsugumi remembered then that Maka was tone deaf, she felt horrible for putting her partner on the spot. Tsugumi knew Maka only tended to listen to Soundtracks for her favourite anime since it reminded her of the scenes it was played in, and the occasional Country song. But Tsugumi didn't count Country as a legitimate music genre.

"Well then let's get some cotton candy next!" Tsugumi said, linking arms with Maka. "I can see a vendor over there, let's get two different colours and share ok?" Tsugumi pointed to the vendor as she began walking towards it, Maka's arm still intertwined with hers they walked together. Tsugumi felt her guilt ease as she felt the tension leave Maka's body pressed against her own. The younger girl smiling as she took large bites of the pink mass of sugar in her hand. Tsugumi was glad Maka was finally enjoying herself, it had been the whole reason she'd dragged Maka out here.

Screaming interrupted the cheerful sounds of the Bazaar making Maka and Tsugumi tense, turning towards the direction it had come from. Maka dropped her cotton candy and slipped her arm out from Tsugumi's own. "Tsugumi transform now, we need to find out what's going on!"

"Okay Maka." Tsugumi said, giving a passing regret as she dropped her own cotton candy. Tsugumi transformed into Maka's hand. Maka started running, weaving through passersby running in the opposite direction. They were screaming about a weapon suddenly attacking a man and destroying stalls.

"Death damn it. We need to incapacitate them Tsugumi, but don't hurt them." Maka said frowning as she leapt down the stairs, skipping the entire flight in a single jump. The fountain area was being abandoned en masse by customers fleeing the scene, though a few lingered at a safe distance. Tsugumi understood what Maka meant and dulled the edges of her blades so they could use brute force if the person didn't surrender. Maka ran over to a man collapsed on the ground, kneeling down to check the wound on his side as blood pooled around him. Tsugumi felt sick at the sight but managed to hold in the scream wanting to escape her at the sight of blood.

"Senpai please stop! If you have a problem we can talk it over!" Anya said, making Tsugumi realise they were not alone. Tsugumi made herself ignore the victim for now, knowing they needed to subdue the person who attacked him so that the ambulance could get to him safely. Tsugumi looked at the weapon that had attacked the man and felt the urge to vomit. "Mai-san what are you doing?" Tsugumi said, unable to believe what she was seeing. Mai's arm was transformed into a butterfly knife, blood running down the blade and dripping down onto the floor. "This doesn't make any sense, why would you do this?" Mai did not respond, her face black as she stared back at the three.

Mai lunged suddenly at Anya, her blade headings towards Anya's torso in wide arc. "Dodge, it'll cut straight through!" Maka said as Anya raised her bag to defend herself. The blade cut through the bag, Tsugumi felt her whole body turn cold as Anya stumbled to escape.

"Anya-chan you need to look out!" Meme said as she leapt from the side and tackled Anya to the ground. Mai's blade passed through the air above their heads. The two girls were sprawled on the ground, the air expelled from their lungs on impacts.

Mai adjusted her footing, moving to strike the two as she brought her blade back to face them. "Stop right there!" Maka said as she swung Tsugumi into Mai's bladed arm. The force of the impact knocked Mai backwards and off her feet. "What are you doing attacking people?" Maka said, staring at Mai's blade, her body tense. Tsugumi focused on Mai's face, she realised that there was something wrong with the other girl's eyes. There was a strange red symbol in her iris that extended to the corner of her eye.

"Maka this isn't right, just look at Mai-san's eyes!" Tsugumi said. Maka grunted, busy herding Mai away from the two NOT by swinging Tsugumi's blades to force Mai to dodge and parry.

"I see it too. All the more reason to keep her contained, if back up arrives we can..." Maka said as she forced Mai back towards a deserted stall. A swing from Mai was dodged easily by Maka, and hit the stall instead. Wood supports for the stalls covers collapsed as it was cut and merchandise went flying Maka's way, forcing her to knock it back using Tsugumi.

"Maka knock her out!" Black*Star said, running towards them from the other side of the fountain. Maka turned with a mouth open to respond but the look on Black*Star's face stopped her. Tsugumi felt a shiver run down her spine as Black*Star approached, his face was pale and eyes wide. Tsugumi realised Black*Star was worried, she'd never seen him like this before and it terrified her. "Hurry before she really does kill herself!"

Maka turned back to Mai, whose whole body had frozen in mid-swing. Tears began running down Mai's face as she raised her blade to her neck. Tsugumi felt a shiver through Maka's soul as well as her own as the two realised Black*Star was right. Maka trust Tsugumi forward the weapon head slipping between the space between Mai's neck and her blade catching it before it cut her throat. "I'm sorry!" Maka said as she slammed her other fist into Mai's forehead. Maka caught her as Mai fell to the ground, cradling her head.

Tsugumi started to relax as Maka laid Mai on the ground gently. She turned her attention to Black*Star ready to tell him it was over, but he was still racing forward. He ran past them without looking at them, entering the nearby alley. "Black*Star what are you doing?" Tsugumi asked, feeling her tension re-double. Maka stood up and began to run after Black*Star with Tsugumi still in hand. Tsugumi realised Black*Star must have found the one responsible for Mai's actions.

The air became heavy as the area was engulfed by a powerful malignant soul wavelength. Tsugumi shivered in her weapon form, the pole trembling in Maka's hands as she was overwhelmed by the sheer power and rage filling the air. "How did a witch get her so suddenly? I didn't sense one at all!" Maka said, sliding to a stop before the alley entrance. Tsugumi could feel Maka's soul wavering, having been completely taken for surprise. "Black*Star don't fight alone-!" Maka said, cut off as an explosion set off in the alley.

Maka covered her eyes with her arm as wood and stone shrapnel came flying at them. Black*Star was thrown from the force of the explosion over Maka's head and he landed on both hands and feet with a slide. "Maka use 1b!" Tsugumi said as she saw bolts of pure energy heading towards them. Maka started the soul resonance technique, the light at full luminosity as the two poured all their strength into guarding against the attack.

Tsugumi could feel through Maka's Soul Perception the attack being vaporised as it entered the light's sphere of effect. The pressure in the air from the soul wavelength eased as it vanished into nothingness, leaving Maka and Tsugumi confused as the light of their technique faded. "How did they do that? Maka said, sinking to her knees as she breathed heavily. "I was using Soul Perception the whole time and I still couldn't notice something that horrible was right under my nose! How could they just disappear like that?"

Tsugumi transformed back into human form. She rubbed Maka's back, hoping to ease her partner's tiredness from using too much soul wavelength. "That was a witch?" Tsugumi said as her trembling increased. "We're expected to fight something like that?"

"We're dead if they're all like that..." Black*Star said as he limped over to them. Tsugumi saw blood running down his leg from a piece of wood that had pierced through and stuck there. Tsugumi's eyes filled with tears at the sight of the younger, usually strong boy, now covered in cuts and bruises from the explosion.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." Tsugumi said beginning to sob, hiding her face in her hands as her shoulders shook. How could their day of fun gone so wrong?

Tsugumi Soul Count: 61/99 & 0/1


	10. Investigations

Chapter 10 – Investigations

 _After that witch escaped I completely lost control of myself. After all the missions we'd taken I'd thought we were strong, that we'd be safe! Yet I let everyone down, Black*Star got hurt because he didn't have a weapon to protect him, I should have protected him. All I could do afterwards was cry, I didn't ease Maka's exhaustion from using too much wavelength, or start doing first aid for Black*Star, Mai-san and the victim. Some senpai I am, acting so pathetic while everyone else is working hard. I couldn't even stand on my own, I had to be helped to get up to take Black*Star to the nearest doctor. Why am I so pathetic?_

Tsugumi clenched her hands together as they sat in her lap. She sat leaning against Maka's shoulder on a bench in the waiting room of the doctor's office. Tsugumi's eyes burned, the occasional tear running down her cheek. Black*Star had been with the Doctor for well over half an hour now, getting his injuries treated and Tsugumi realised that he'd been hurt far more than she'd originally feared. The office was quite aside from the sound of the clock, Tsugumi didn't feel like talking and Maka had kept her eyes glued to the clock since they sat down.

"There you two are." Clay said as he entered the building, having spotted them the moment he and Akane passed through the doors. Tsugumi turned her head to look at them as they approached, had Akane come to scold her for getting his cousin hurt? "We've been looking for you." Clay was cut off by Akane elbowing him in the stomach. Akane looked at his partner with furrowed brows, Tsugumi was surprised that it was Clay who was suffering his ire.

"Thanks for looking after Black*Star on the ride over." Akane said kneeling down in front of the two girls. At his height he was still looking down to meet their eyes. "We managed to complete the investigation on site, though there's still some forensic work going on. There's just you three left to interview now, did either of you not anything suspicious?"

Maka turned away from the clock and looked at the ground. "Not really, Mai's soul was unresponsive like the traitors we caught before. It did react a little when she tried... to hurt herself though. But she definitely wasn't all there." Akane and Clay looked at each other for a moment and nodded.

"It's suspected that the culprit is a control type witch, so it's likely Mai wasn't in control of her actions. Did you notice anything which may have been used to control her? Like a piece of clothing or has she been hanging around someone suspicious?" Clay said crossing his arms. Tsugumi bit her lip, but a small noise still escaped her throat.

"No, Mai-san's been doing well ever since Sid stepped in and got her name changed back. And Kim being in EAT provisionally meant she hasn't had the time to bully her either." Tsugumi hid her face in her hands as she felt more tears escaping. "Yesterday she was talking about coming to the Bazaar to take advantage of the fact Kim wasn't taking all her money and treat herself, maybe get some jewellery I think. She had a nice new ring, scorpion themed for her horoscope and everything when we found her." Tsugumi was disappointed she couldn't remember much as she hadn't bothered to pay much attention to Mai before now.

"Tsugumi are you sure?" Akane said, getting up to grip her shoulders. Tsugumi looked up from her hands and nodded. Akane looked her in the eyes, his face right in front of her own, she blinked. "Mai didn't have any jewellery on her when we searched her."

"I think she was." Maka said, scratching her head. "I was watching her left arm the entire time. It was the one she'd transformed. I've never seen her wear any jewellery before now that I think about it. I thought it was blood on her pointer finger for a while since it was such a bright red, but I had other things on my mind at the time."

"We'll get people looking for it, maybe it got lost in the commotion." Akane said. He released Tsugumi's shoulders and stood up. "Clay we need to call this in."

"I'm sure we didn't miss it though. If it was the cause it's probably gone, the witch wouldn't have left a clue like that when she could've removed it before help arrived." Clay said, pulling out his mobile from his jacket. "But this is good for us. She was probably masquerading as stall owner nearby. It shouldn't be hard to find out if there was a woman selling jewellery nearby, someone must have seen her before she made the sale to Mai."

Tsugumi stared at Akane as he continued to question Maka. Clay called in for the investigators to search for the ring and potential suspects. She felt bewildered by Akane's thanks for the information, didn't he realise how terribly she'd done? Tsugumi knew Akane didn't miss much and if he was upset he probably wouldn't bother hiding it.

The door to the surgery room creaked open on Tsugumi's left. She twitched, her elbow slamming into Maka's side. Maka's exclamation drew Akane and Clay's attention. "I'm finished the treatment, you can come in now." The doctor said, his face peeking through the crack in the door. He retreated away from the door, disappearing from sight the moment he stopped talking.

Tsugumi pushed herself to her feet and made a beeline for the door. "Black*Star are you ok?" Tsugumi said, only to bump into the back of the Doctor in her haste to assure herself of Black*Star's health. She looked up and gasped at the Doctor, there was a screw in his head. "It's Frankenstein's Monster!" Tsugumi said, pointing a shaking finger at the Doctor.

"Dr. Stein is he alright?" Akane said as he came behind Tsugumi. He wrapped an arm around her shaking shoulders and guided her towards Black*Star. Tsugumi couldn't reasonably be believed to expect that this guy was actually named Stein and looked like that could she? Though it made all the stitching on the walls around the office make more sense. He could just be a fan with a stage name.

"He'll need to take it easy until the end of summer so he doesn't cause permanent injury to his leg but he'll live... unfortunately." Dr. Stein said raising a hand to tighten the screw lodged in his skull. "There are no signs he was exposed to poison or any other method of control and his skull is too thick for him to have a concussion."

Black*Star pouted, his face red and cheeks puffed out, sitting on the surgery table. Tsugumi shushed him before he could open his mouth to reply. She slipped out from under Akane's arm and started to inspect Black*Star, lifting an arm or turning him when necessary. He has covered in bandages in several places where he'd been cut by debris and his bruises were covered in a light coating of ointment. Tsugumi's eyes drifted down to his leg, the hole had been stitched up, in a pattern matching the Doctor and his office, and it had been sprayed with what Tsugumi could only guess was disinfectant. His other leg kicked her in the shin; he raised an eyebrow as she protested. Tsugumi huffed but relented in her search, the message that he was okay and to stop the mother-hen act coming across loud and clear. Tsugumi was at least grateful that he had coming willingly to be treated and been quiet the entire time. He wasn't anywhere near as bad about Doctors as Maka.

"Don't be such a worry wart Akane, a witch like that wasn't anything special." Black*Star said, trying to give his signature full faced grin, stopping with a grimace. Tsugumi would bet he'd pulled at the wound on his forehead when trying to wiggle his eyebrows like usual. Not that she or anyone could take his boast serious, the way the majority of his face was a giant bruise, one eye so puffy and swollen that it was stuck half open.

"True enough." Akane said, sighing as he put his hand on his hip. "You went after someone when you arrived on scene, can you tell us why?"

"I'm not in trouble right? 'Cause that was definitely a witch right?" Black*Star said, narrowing his one good eye. Maka walked up to stand beside him and tried to flick him on the ear with a glare. Black*Star swatted her hand away. "I could hear her talking. I started running over when I heard the screams and all, but there was just this voice saying weird shit nearby. Like how it was easy to possess a NOT and how the dose wasn't enough to fight EAT. Next thing I know she's saying she'll wrap it up, but it would be bad if the subject was caught so she'd see if she could make her kill herself."

Clay frowned and ran his fingers through his hair. "Not good, if this is all just an experiment there's got to be something bigger coming." Tsugumi felt her whole body shiver at the thought; she didn't want even more trouble being brought upon Death City. "Did you manage to get a good look at the suspect?"

"Did she look anything like this?" Akane said, pulling a hand drawn mug shot from inside his jacket. Tsugumi found it hard to believe that such a normal girl could be a witch.

"Yeah that's her." Black*Star said. "It's hard to forget since she had these freaky red and purple eyes, it was hard to tell which colour her hair was since it kept changing in the light though." Black*Star crossed his arms. "But it's not like the alley being dark made it hard for me to see or anything."

"Indeed, this ID should be enough for us to add Shaula Gorgon to the list." Akane said, stashing the mug shot back in his jacket. "But don't go chasing after her when she gets added to the board just yet, we still need to figure out where she's hiding." Black*Star looked away. "Black*Star I mean it, not until you recover." Akane said frowning. He grabbed the younger boys chin and forced him to be face to face. "I can and will ask Sid to tie you up whenever you're not in sight."

Black*Star stared back at Akane for a moment before finally agreeing. Tsugumi felt tension she didn't realise was there ease from her shoulders, glad that someone else was putting their foot down with him. Tsugumi wasn't sure she had any right try and stopping him when her main reason was how terrified she was of ever running into that witch again. Black*Star would never accept that, and run off on his own.

Tsugumi Soul Count: 61/99 & 0/1


	11. Summer Developments

Chapter 11 – Summer Developments

 _While it's been quiet ever since the incident at the Death Bazaar, DWMA is full of tension. Everyone knows there's a witch prowling around that's involved with the traitors. The NOTs aren't even complain about having EATs sticking close to them, despite some of us being real basket cases. I'm trying to act like everything's normal but I can't stop worrying. Maka's forgotten about her grades but now she's become obsessed with raising her soul capacity, she's not making any progress since it's part of her natural growth and that's driving her to try even harder. Before I knew it I've already surpassed Maka in how much I contribute to our resonance. Now she always ends up tiring herself out when we practice. I'm just glad Sid managed to drag her away from practice to help evaluate the NOT class summer session, she needs the break._

Tsugumi and Maka stood beside Sid as he called the roll for the summer evaluation class for the newest NOT students. The class stood opposite them in the middle of the gym, Tsugumi was familiar with many of them, having helped this class before. Tsugumi caught herself before she started waving to Akane and lowered her hand, she settled for smiling at him. Akane smiled back and gave Tsugumi a nod. Anya was standing by a boy Tsugumi couldn't name, though she remembered that he'd often been taken to the nurse's office for partial transformations. It was good he finally had a meister, Tsugumi had managed to avoid having partial transformations since she managed to find a partner and fully transform before she'd entered the power inconsistency phase, but it looked painful and embarrassing.

"Well that's everyone!" Sid said giving the class a grin. "Today we're going to test how well the weapons can control their powers. Your senpai's from the EAT class will be observing as well." Tsugumi gave Anya thumbs up when the other girl looked at her. "I'm sure many of you remember Maka and Tsugumi. Keep in mind that your results today will be scored. We'll start off with Raid and Hao."

Tsugumi blinked and cocked her head to the side. She hadn't recognised the two boys that had started the fight with her at the start of the year until Anya started asking if they had improved. And since when did those two call her Anya-sama? "Here we go." Hao said as Raid matched poses with him and began to transform. Raid's body became engulfed in light and reformed into Hao's hand. Tsugumi bit her lip to hide her giggle when she saw his now disproportioned face replacing the pommel of his weapon form. Raid tried let out some ineligible speech. "He says, now I can even transform my lower jaw." Hao said, Raid's head disappeared and then moved to sit between his blade and the handle. "I can even move the location of my head!"

Tsugumi took a deep breath she needed to take these two seriously like a good senpai. "It's great that your practically a full weapon now Raid. If you want to transform fully let the image and knowledge you are a weapon become a part of your sense of identity. Don't think about it, do it, you are a weapon."

"I'm more surprised Hao can understand him at all." Anya said, her eye twitching.

"When a meister and weapon truly work together, they even share feelings. When your souls are connected communication is instinctual. We call this Soul Resonance." Maka said as her hands moving in time with her explanation.

"Alright that covers everything." Sid said giving Maka and Tsugumi a grin. Tsugumi blushed and smiled back. "Next!" Maka and Tsugumi help explain to the NOT students as the continued to be graded in pairs. Tsugumi was proud of how the class had progressed, though she couldn't really understand why they had so much trouble transforming when her only issue had been keeping her blade sharp. Was she weird for having had a dull blade since none of the NOT here had that issue at all?

"Next, Aaron." Sid said. Anya walked forward with Aaron, Tsugumi was glad she had a name for him now. Anya offered her hand to Aaron who didn't take it. Tsugumi felt through Maka the sudden ripple of Soul Wavelength, it was her only warning before Aaron's body had parts of a bow protruding from his chest, stretching his shirt.

"Still can't control your power huh?" Sid said, scratching the back of his neck. Tsugumi frowned as Aaron did control it since he had tried to transform, the issue was something else.

"Aaron you need to want your body to transform fully. You can't just add parts of yourself. You'll just keep sprouting partial transformations. Accept that you're a weapon as much as you are human and that you can be both separately." Tsugumi said, crossing her arms.

"Being a weapon is hard to imaging without a meister." Maka said, placing her hand on Tsugumi's shoulder. Tsugumi looked away when Maka raised her eyebrow at her. "You need to work with Anya, acknowledge that you are a weapon for Anya to wield and it will come to you."

"Haah" Aaron said. He hadn't moved at all since he transformed. Tsugumi wondered if he was ignoring them completely. Poor Anya ending up with someone not interested in reaching out to her!

"Anya try to understand Aaron a little more, show him you need him as your blade and your resonance will start to build." Maka said, removing her hand from Tsugumi's shoulder. Anya turned bright red and pouted, tears building up in her eyes. Tsugumi felt a little guilty, it must hurt to be lectured by someone who had your desired partner about reaching out to bond with someone else.

"Well either way there's been no improvement since you two have partnered. I won't be able to give you a good mark for this." Sid said, writing the score into his clipboard. Anya and Aaron walked back into the crowd of students, Anya's head kept low. "Right that's everyone for today." Tsugumi blinked and realised she hadn't seen Meme yet.

"Sid isn't Meme partnered up with someone by now?" Tsugumi asked. Sid stopped talking and checked his sheets.

"Tatane... Apparently Tatane was excused today as she's been selected to partner with an EAT student. It must have happened at the last matching event..." Sid said, rubbing his pen against his temple. Tsugumi felt her eyebrows rise. Meme, the infamous ditz partnered with an EAT student?

* * *

 _No matter what I do I can't escape the feeling of unease that's spread through DWMA since the incident at the Death Bazaar. I'm still terrified but I need to conquer this fear, so I'm training hard again today, but I don't have any direction. Maka's covered the curriculum for me, but I've mastered those exercises already and we train hard on more advanced things together. But how can I improve my own abilities? I know weapons are usually graded on performance with their meister but there isn't anything telling me how I can get better on my own!_

Tsugumi swung her transformed foot into the training post in her chosen training ground. The axe blade met wood with a resounding thud, sending woodchips flying as it became embedded in the post. Tsugumi pulled her leg back and repeated the process, this time aiming for head height, getting the same result. "This isn't enough." Tsugumi said as she stood up straight. She wiped her sweaty face with her gym shirt. The wooden post was riddled with gaping chucks all over.

"Looks like you're making good progress!" A man said behind Tsugumi. Tsugumi spun around to come face to face with a red haired man in a suit smiling at her with a hand raised. "Maka picked a hardworking partner." He said tucking his hands into his pockets.

"I'm sorry?" Tsugumi said. She narrowed her eyes at the man, she'd seen him somewhere before but couldn't place where or when. How did such a suspicious person know she was Maka's partner?

"If you're looking to improve your fighting ability I have just the trick." He said, giving her a wide smile. "But you have to promise me you'll use it to protect Maka ok?" He was suddenly right in front of Tsugumi, grabbing her shoulders. "If my Maka gets hurt I'll have to take steps, even though you're totally adorable!" Tsugumi felt herself shiver, this man was serious. She wasn't even going to ask why he thought Maka was his. Better to let Maka sort that out on her own, or better yet Tsugumi could tell Black*Star first and then he'd be beaten up twice.

"I promise." Tsugumi said without thinking. "I want to protect Maka!" He let go of Tsugumi's shoulders and started smiling wider than ever. Tsugumi let out a breath of relief.

"Excellent, now let me show you how to create blades protruding from your body to fight!" The man said. He sprouted scythe blades from every part of his body. "It's easy once you get the hang of it, and so much easier to fight without having to balance on one leg or something stupid." The blades disappeared and he walked past Tsugumi to stand in front of the mutilated wooden post. "And when you get enough practice you can do it faster." Tsugumi felt a movement of air as the post began falling apart, cut into hundreds of small pieces. Tsugumi looked between the former post and man, he was giving Tsugumi a thumbs up. "And that's how weapons should fight." Tsugumi had to agree with him. That kind of strength would allow her to protect everyone, though she could only hope she'd ever be as good as him.

* * *

 _While Maka and I have been training hard to get more powerful all summer, Black*Star's been going through an even tougher trial. He's been forced to take it easy on Doctor's orders until he heals. Though bruises and cuts fade, he can't get around the fact that he a piece of wood made a hole in his leg. He's still banned from training and missions until the Death Festival starts. I take back what I thought about him being better with Doctors than Maka, he was alright until the third day and now he's making everyone else share his misery._

Black*Star leaned back in his chair, the front legs dangling in the air, kept balanced by his feet on the table. Tsugumi ignored her urge to make him put his feet down, he was being rude to Master but she knew he was doing it on purpose. According to Black*Star duels aren't training so he hasn't been banned from them. Tsugumi would have tried knocking him unconscious but that was madness against the boy who was still winning while walking on his hands everywhere. Let it be said that Tsugumi had seen his usual opponents give up after those epic defeats. To compensate for his lack of regular challengers he'd decided to annoy people into fighting him. "I hate this! Sid isn't even letting me train with my soul anymore! I'm bored!" Black*Star said pouting.

"It's your own fault Black*Star." Maka said, stopping to take a sip of her cup of tea. "You reopened that killer hole of yours practicing soul menace. You know your Big Wave attack is an AOE but you did it anyway." Black*Star groaned and covered his face with his hands.

"How was I supposed to know that string was so flimsy? My clothes hold up just fine." Black*Star said. Maka raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth. Tsugumi leaned over to cover her partner's mouth and shook her head at Maka. Better not to retaliate when he was fishing for trouble. Though Tsugumi wondered if she should let Black*Star and Maka fight since it was the one time Maka might have enough of an advantage to win, that might be enough to make him stop. But chances were it would ruin the accord they'd come to since the tie at last year's Battle Festival and make Black*Star harder to stop from training, so she'd continue to keep the two separated until he got better.

"Speaking of clothes, have you two decided on Halloween Costumes yet?" Tsugumi said, withdrawing her hand from Maka's mouth. "Why don't we all go together? Maybe we could even have a theme!" Black*Star groaned and let his hands fall to dangle at his sides. Maka pouted and turned away, the tips of her ears red. Tsugumi let the tension ease from her shoulders, the fighting mood had been ruined, one point for her.

Tsugumi Soul Count: 70/99 & 0/1


	12. Walk with Death

Chapter 12 – Walk with Death

 _Before I knew it autumn had arrived. Between Spirit-san's training and keeping Black*Star on mandatory rest I haven't had a break! We've picked smaller missions for now, since we don't have Black*Star's help, even if Maka complains about us slowing down. Though I admit the smaller missions are a bit annoying since they have such odd hours, we've only just getting back to DWMA and it's already passed midnight._

Tsugumi yawned, covering her mouth with a hand. She bumped into Maka who was walking beside her. "Sorry Maka. I'm so tired..."

"Me too..." Maka said. She stopped and grabbed Tsugumi's shoulder. "Isn't that Meme and Anya? Are they dead to be coming out at this time of night?" Tsugumi rubbed her eyes and turned to look at where Maka was pointing.

"What are those two idiots doing?" Tsugumi said, stomping her feet as she made her way to Anya. "Are you two trying to get yourself killed? The Traitors are still out here you know?" Tsugumi said, grabbing Anya's shoulder and turning the girl to face her. Anya covered her own mouth with her hands, stifling a scream.

"Tsugumi-senpai you need to be quiet! Meme is sleepwalking so I'm going to follow her so I can tell her what she did." Anya said pressing a single finger to her lip and making a shushing noise. Tsugumi felt her eyebrow twitch as Anya slipped from her grip and started following Meme.

"Guess we better go after them." Maka said jogging to follow Anya. "Clay and Akane will be murderous if their VIP gets attacked because she slipped out in the middle of the night."

"I am going to slap sense into both of them the moment they're in range." Tsugumi said. Where had Anya's sense gone following Meme out into dangerous streets? Better to wake Meme with a good hit to the head than let anyone run into a Traitor in their pyjamas.

Meme and Anya led the two EAT students on a chase through the city all the way to the school. Tsugumi had never seen Meme so agile before. Really who slides down power lines in their sleep back to school? "This is getting ridiculous." Maka said, kneeling behind the stairwell. "How in Death's name can Meme possibly slip through the school's security, Anya pursuing, without drawing attention? I'm filing a complaint tomorrow!" Tsugumi had to agree, if someone would just catch Meme they could take the girls home and get some sleep.

Before Tsugumi knew it they were already deep within the labyrinth underneath the school. "How did Meme get her hands on the key for a records room?" Tsugumi said, running both hands through her hair, her pigtails now crooked. Just around the corner Meme and Anya disappeared into the room. "There is no way a sleepwalker does that! Even you don't do that!" Tsugumi threw her hands up in the air, forgetting to lower her voice.

"Indeed. We suspect Meme is under control of Shaula Gorgon acting as a spy." Akane whispered into Tsugumi's ear. Tsugumi turned her head, Akane's face now wedged between hers and Maka's. Tsugumi's heart started pounding, she reached out to pinch him in the side. Akane winced as her grip intensified.

"Never ever do that again." Tsugumi said, face blank as she stared into his one visible eye. Tsugumi could her Maka giggling, though the sound was muffled. Tsugumi sighed as she released her grip on Akane.

"No promises. Clay's getting Meme to surrender now. We can bring her into custody. Can you two to take the princess back to the dorm?" Akane said as he rubbed his side with a crooked smile.

"That's the plan." Maka said. "But if she's got a swollen face when you see later it wasn't us. I'm long overdue to go to bed." Akane sighed but nodded. Tsugumi figured he'd pulled more than a few late nights for missions too.

The silence was broken by Anya screaming in the records room. Akane rounded the corner first, Maka and Tsugumi behind him. Tsugumi gasped as Clay was thrown into the corridor wall. "Clay!" Akane said running to his partner, keeping his eye on the door. Tsugumi transformed, she didn't want to be on the receiving end of someone who could fight Clay. Training to fight solo or not he was still a high school boy with years more experience than her.

Maka caught Tsugumi without looking and fell into a guard position. Both were surprised when Meme leapt out of the doorway, flinging Anya into Akane as he moved to stop her. "Meme stop!" Tsugumi said. Meme laughed and ran down the corridor in the opposite direction. Maka ran after her, following the flutter of Meme's cape as the older girl turned a corner. "There's no way that's Meme." Tsugumi said, sensing Maka's agreement.

They chased Meme through the labyrinth that was their school, eventually arriving back at the entranceway. They caught sight of Sid, surrounded by other DWMA agents. All were wearing full combat gear and armed. "Sid, Meme's possessed and coming right for you!" Maka said, raising a hand to her mouth as she called out.

"Everyone get in position!" Sid said. The DWMA Agents began moving to block Meme's exit only for someone to open fire on them. "What? Snipers respond?" Sid asked as he rolled to take shelter inside the school, bringing an agent with him in each arm. Tsugumi felt her stomach rebel at the blood spurting out as agents were shot trying to escape into the safety of the school.

Meme charged past Sid and the DWMA agent's, attacking anyone who got too close to her. Maka blocked the bullets being aimed at her and continued to follow after Meme. Tsugumi had to admire her partners resolve, even under what had to be sniper fire Maka's soul wasn't wavering. Sid fell into line behind Maka, screaming out orders for his men to stay in cover. Tsugumi noticed someone jumping on the rooftops to their left. "Is that Shaula Gorgon?" Tsugumi said, her blade trembling in Maka's hand. The two meister looked up at the rooftops and frowned as they continued to run deeper into the city.

"Most likely, we need to corner Tatane now. Fighting them both will only bring trouble and we can't injure Tatane." Sid said, dashing forward past Maka. Tsugumi was glad the gunfire had stopped once they entered the city. Sid grabbed a streetlight, ripping it from the ground. He threw the streetlight in Meme's path, forcing her to stop in Liberty Square.

The night was quiet, the Statue of Liberty was shadowed in the poor lighting from the missing streetlight. Meme was still giggling as Maka and Sid approached from her sides. Tsugumi had a feeling that they were walking into a trap, taking a look around confirmed that they were surrounded by DWMA agents. Each agent was covered in blood and their eyes were glazed over. Tsugumi reached out through her connection to Maka and could feel the way the men's soul's felt muted and unresponsive. "Maka, Sid they're all possessed!" Tsugumi said. She was glad to see both meister immediately tense as they realised their allies had been turned.

The possessed agents swarmed the two meister, attacking at once from all sides. "Sid jump!" Maka said. Sid jumped into the air as Maka swung Tsugumi at full force. The wind created by the attack blowing the agents backward and into the surrounding buildings. The agents didn't get back up as Sid began to descend. "It's just Meme now!" Maka said turning to face the possessed girl. Sid twisted in the air until he was falling fist first into Meme. Meme dodge at the last moment, missed by a hair's breadth. The impact of Sid's fist hitting the ground created a crater and knocked Meme back. Sid stood up, dusting concrete off his fist.

"We need to hurry and detain Tatane before Shaula gets here!" Sid said. Tsugumi looked at him and felt a shiver go down her spine. She screamed as a figure appeared behind Sid. Mid-step Sid began to convulse, foaming at the mouth. Sid fell to the ground face first as Maka turned away from Meme to run to him. Maka's eyes were wide and filled with tears as she called out Sid's name.

"Did you think you were luring me out? You've fallen right into my trap." The covered woman said. The only thing Tsugumi could see of her was the grin stretched across her face. The woman jumped out of the way of Maka's swing and retreated to stand by Meme. "People like you are too dangerous... I don't need you to be talented servants, I just need obedient soldiers." She said, running a hand over Meme's face. Tsugumi struggled to breathe and she could feel herself becoming dizzy. Tsugumi had no doubt now that this was Shaula Gorgon, the witch who had been behind the Death Bazaar incident. "Now would you three please die?" Shaula said, then threw her head back and laughed.

Maka squared her shoulders and fell into a defensive stance in front of Sid's still twitching body. "Monologue all you want, I'll be taking your soul Shaula Gorgon!" Tsugumi was glad for Maka's confidence, easing the tension she felt. Tsugumi turned her attention to where Meme had been, but the girl was no longer there. She sent a warning to Maka, who twisted her body as Meme came from behind and attempted to elbow her in the spine. Maka swung Tsugumi, the pole end of the halberd slamming into Meme's chest and sending her backward. Maka tilted her head back as Shaula thrust her scorpion braid, now rigid and sharp, towards her. The axe of Tsugumi's halberd came around chopping a chunk out of it.

Shaula screeched and stumbled backwards as the blow knocked her into Meme. Shaula's hat flying away as it was blown away by the force of the blow, revealing her face. She was still beautiful Tsugumi had to admit, though caught between childhood and adulthood now, Shaula could one day be as beautiful as the School Nurse Medusa. "You wretches!" Shaula said, her face twisting into a wrinkled and shadowed caricature of itself. "You will die here tonight!" Shaula said before taking a deep breath, her face returning to normal. Shaula slid into a fighting stance, Meme copying her silently.

A slice of energy ripped through the pavement, separating Tsugumi, Maka and Sid from Shaula and Meme. "Akane-kun, Clay-san!" Tsugumi said, as Akane ran over to them with Clay's great sword form in hand. Akane's glasses had been taken off and his fringe pushed out of his face, his single Light Eye glowing in the shadows of the square.

"You alright?" Akane said to them, turning to face Shaula as Maka nodded. "You've lost witch. Or do you intend to bring Death upon yourself by breaking Soul Protect?" Akane said.

"It seems I am at a disadvantage." Shaula said with a grin. She leapt upwards, her hair shooting out to grab a wall and swing her up to the roof of a building across from the meister. Meme jumped to follow, scaling the wall with her hands and feet. "Next time I'll let you play with my soldiers." Shaula and Meme disappeared as the leapt away over the rooftops.

Tsugumi and Clay returned to their human forms, the danger now passed. Clay knelt down next to Sid and turned the man over. "He's still breathing, Akane!" Tsugumi turned to see Akane already on his phone, asking for an ambulance. Tsugumi wrung her hands, wondering what she and Maka could do to help Sid. Why hadn't she taken that first aid class when Maka suggested it last year?

"Akane-san what's going on?" Anya said as she jogged over to them from the direction of the school. Tsugumi wanted to slap her, after all this she still hadn't learnt her lesson and stayed with the Agents where it was safe? Anya could have run straight into a witch! Anya looked over to where Clay and Tsugumi and screamed as she say Sid lying there. "We need an Ambulance!" Anya said, covering her mouth with her hands as her eyes became wide and her face paled.

Clay got up and walked over to Anya, reaching her before Maka. Tsugumi was relieved; as much as she was mad at Anya a Maka Chop would only make things worse. "Let's get you sitting down, there's a bench over there." Clay said, guiding Anya to sit on the bench with a hand on her shoulder. Maka crossed her arms and began tapping her foot, her soul was burning. Clay looked down at Anya, standing in front of her as she sat on the bench. The sound of the coming ambulance's siren was breaking the serenity of the night air. "Princess Anastasia Yngling an escort is on the way. We must ask you to return to your home country at once." Anya became still, her eyes glued on Clay as he bowed his head. "When it was agreed that you could study at DWMA we promised to return you home should you fall into danger. Since Sid is indisposed the call is ours now."

Anya gripped her nightgown in both hands. "But why you?" Anya said, her shoulders trembling. Akane came to stand beside Clay, having been shooed away by the paramedics and investigators that had arrived.

"We're EAT students working with DWMA-CIA. We were put into the NOT class to be your bodyguards in secret." Akane said. Akane's hair was now covering his eye again, though he had yet to put on his glasses, his face blank as he looked Anya in the eyes.

"Come on." Clay said, pulling Anya up of the bench to stand as the escorts arrived on scene. Anya slapped his hand away and stepped away.

"Wait a minute. I never agreed to leave. I am a DWMA student so this isn't dangerous enough for me to falter." Anya said and stamped her foot. Clay frowned and sensing his imminent explosion Tsugumi nudged Maka with her shoulder. Maka walked right up to Anya until they were nose to nose.

"DWMA students are not fools." Maka said leaning forward to follow as Anya leaned away. "We understand our fear so we can use it. Fear teaches us our weaknesses, and yes there are times when we must act in spite of them. But you snuck out for a petty game without telling anyone when the whole school is on alert. You were ordered to stay in a safe area when you stumbled upon an investigation. And you were moments away from running head first into a witch when you came out here in spite of them. Having to protect you from her in that moment could have gotten us all killed."

"Even so, that's not why I did it!" Anya said fling her hands out. "I came to help Meme and I have a partner..." Maka raised an eyebrow.

"You and Aaron are far from being partners yet, anyone can see that." Maka said putting a hand on her hip. "Get in the car." Anya's shoulders where slumped by the time Maka finished talking, her lips trembling. Anya didn't protest as the two officers led her into the escort car. Tsugumi bit her lip, while she was sorry for Anya it was better to let Maka explain things rationally then let Clay take his anger out on her.

"I know you two must be tired but could you go with Sid to Stein's clinic?" Akane said. He stood beside Clay with a hand on the other boys shoulder. Clay had turned away, his fists shaking and clenched. Tsugumi could see blood starting to drip from his hands.

"Alright Akane-kun." Tsugumi said linking hands with Maka. "I can give Black*Star a call when we get there. He can bring over some things for Sid encase he needs to be in hospital for a while." The tension in Akane's shoulders loosened a fraction and he gave her a small smile.

Tsugumi Soul Count: 79/99 & 0/1


	13. Festival of Woes

Chapter 13 – Festival of Woes

 _Last night was the worst I have ever experienced... We fought Shaula Gorgon, Meme is possessed, and Sid got hurt. Dr. Stein's treatment saved his life but he'll be in hospital until the magic Shaula cast on him is undone. He has trouble breathing because of the paralysis. If I'm feeling terrible then Maka and Black*Star have it worse. They've known Sid all their lives. I know Maka feels responsible for failing to protect him and letting Shaula escape. Black*Star is harder to read but he's tearing through his opponents in the Battle Festival with prejudice._

Tsugumi stared into her glass of apple juice, toying with the straw between her fingers. At any other time she'd have thought Maka and Black*Star would be ecstatic with their progression to the semi-finals of the battle festival. But Maka was glaring at the posters decorating wall as if they had offended her, while drinking her tea. Black*Star was resting his head in his crossed arms on the table, quiet and still for once. His plate pushed to the side already empty.

Tsugumi winced as she saw the restaurant owner give the three a frown as he wandered between customers. She knew they were ruining the mood of the restaurant, brooding didn't suit the mellow jazz tune playing in the background underneath the chatter of excited customers. But he couldn't just throw out last year's finalists as a number of spectators had followed them in.

"I guess we better start heading back." Tsugumi said, hearing the roar of the crowd from the nearby arena. "Sounds like the last quarter finals fight just ended." Tsugumi got up, pushing her chair back.

"We may as well." Maka said, setting down her teacup. She stood up and dusted off her skirt. Black*Star lifted his head and shoved himself up, not looking back as he made his way to the door first.

Tsugumi bumped into Black*Star's back as he stopped at the door. "What's up?" Tsugumi said rubbing her forehead to ease the sting. Tsugumi felt a chill go down her spine as Black*Star tensed and turned around, dragging Tsugumi and Maka back with him by the wrist.

"Lock the doors!" Black*Star said as he ran up to the owner. The man began to protest, stopping as the area filled with screams. Customers began to panic, some hiding under the tables and others running up the stair to the second floor.

"I sense a number of unresponsive souls." Maka said her jaw clenching as she balled her hands into fists. "Shaula's made her move." Tsugumi felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

"Shouldn't we help stop the Traitors? Let's try and get a good view of what's happening." Tsugumi said, hating how her voice wavered. Maka and Black*Star agreed and they all ran up the stairs. Looking down from the roof which had been abandoned by customers they could see the extent of the attack. There were Traitors everywhere but Tsugumi recognised a number of faces. "Even NOTs have been possessed?" Tsugumi said, gripping the railing tightly as she scanned the area. "There's way too many."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Maka said, crossing her arms as she frowned down at the scene. "Until Shaula is stopped or a cure is found this won't end." Tsugumi blinked, the screams and pleading for help washing over her.

"Then we find Shaula and take her soul." Tsugumi said. She turned and looked Maka in the eye. "We can do it, between your Soul Perception and Black*Star's senses she'll have nowhere to hide."

"Sounds good." Black*Star said, cracking his knuckles. "I'm going to kill her." Tsugumi ignored the way his tone and far off stare made her whole body feel cold. They'd need Black*Star to be serious from the start to take on the witch. "It won't be hard to find her. She's probably doing a monologue somewhere nearby."

"I suppose I could try looking for Meme. Shaula has Soul Protection to hide, but she wouldn't dare go alone." Maka said with a shrug. "She's got to be hiding somewhere nearby but it won't be populated or she'd get caught up in the fighting."

"Then let's go!" Tsugumi said, raising her fist. "I'll use Wing Booster to carry you two so you can search uninterrupted." Tsugumi transformed into her halberd form, two wings sprouting out, she floated in front of Maka and Black*Star. Maka leapt over the railing and landed on the pole with both feet. Maka turned and held out her hand to Black*Star. He stared at her hand with a raise eyebrow.

"You know the last time I got on this Flying Halberd of yours we fell right?" Black*Star said. Maka smirked, grabbing him by the hand as Tsugumi floated higher up. "Not funny!" Black*Star said, his feet dangling in the air as Maka held him above the riot of people.

"Tsugumi's gotten better so she can handle way more wavelength now. We'll be fine." Maka said. Black*Star pouted and swung his legs, using the momentum to swing himself up to stand on Tsugumi. "You could always lend her some if you're afraid we'll run out." Maka said with a smirk as Black*Star pulled his hand free of her grip. Black*Star huffed and crossed his arms.

"Wait!" Tsugumi said. Black*Star started releasing soul wavelength from where his feet connected to Tsugumi, the sparks he let out making her whole body tingle. The influx of wavelength speeding up her movements more than she'd intended and sending the three flying into the sky. Forcing the wavelength to follow her will Tsugumi managed to keep the halberd horizontal, though they did spin a bit. Maka and Black*Star spinning their arms trying to maintain their balance. "Don't just suddenly start pumping out wavelength!" Tsugumi said, making a reflection of her face appear in her blade to show them she was pouting. "Hurry up we need to find Shaula."

Maka and Black*Star sheepishly agreed and closed their eyes to focus on their respective tracking abilities. Tsugumi drifted through the air above the city, she could see Death City besieged with fighting below. Shaula was probably at the outskirts somewhere like Maka had said, so she avoided flying over the areas where the fighting was heaviest. Maka and Black*Star opened their eyes at the same time and pointed in the same direction. "Meme's soul just started responding!" Maka said. Tsugumi turned an accelerated in that direction, forcing Maka to kneel and get a grip on her pole for support, Black*Star grabbing hold of Maka's shoulders.

"Shaula's there too, and she's pissed." Black*Star said. He grimaced as Maka's pigtails hit him in the face as they were flapping in the wind. "Shaula's standing right by the church bell." Tsugumi could see Shaula's dark clothed figure as they approached. Tsugumi fought the urge to turn around, she wouldn't let Meme down again.

Maka, Black*Star and Tsugumi collided with Shaula at full speed as she jumped down from the belltower. Shaula was knocked back into the church wall while the two meister landed feet first between the witch and Meme. "It looks like we got here just in time." Maka said as she spun Tsugumi in her hand into an offensive stance.

"Tsugumi-senpai you're here?" Meme said from behind them. All three turned to look at her, Meme was dirty and bloodied, kneeling on the ground but she was acting normal. Meme wasn't alone as Anya was standing beside her, wielding a bow that must be Aaron. Tsugumi forgot about the threat of Shaula as Tsubaki wrapped an arm around Meme. So it was Tsubaki who was the EAT student partnering with Meme?

"Sorry we're late." Tsugumi said, deciding to think about Tsubaki later. "You guys need to get out of here, we'll handle this."

"Tsugumi-senpai don't be ridiculous! We can fight too!" Anya said with her arms held out wide. Meme clenched her hands and looked at them with a frown.

"I need to take responsibility for this senpai." Meme said. Tsubaki smiled at Meme and gripped her shoulder tighter.

"You're needed more in the city than here." Tsugumi said, letting her face show in her blade. Her eyebrows furrowed as she stared back at them. "The Traitors are attacking civilians everywhere, if you don't go and reinforce the area Shaula can call them here to try and escape." Tsugumi heard Shaula moaning, a peek confirming she was getting up.

"Hurry up and go before you get in our way!" Black*Star said, shaking his fist. "I don't have time to babysit little people." Anya and Meme flinched and ran to obey. Tsugumi sighed as they ran off towards the festival.

"Did you have to yell at them?" Tsugumi said as Maka and Black*Star turned back to face Shaula. Shaula staggered to her feet with a curse, holding her bleeding head in one hand.

"Just be glad it worked, if we're going to win we need to be focused on fighting. They'd get in our way." Maka said with a sigh. "Now we can be serious from the start."

"Right, time to get this murder started." Black*Star said grinning. Tsugumi responded immediately as Maka began raising their resonance, peripherally aware that Black*Star hadn't dropped his link to them yet and was powering up as well. The sheer amount of wavelength being released in their triple resonance was making the air tremble. Tsugumi allowed herself one last look at both meister, Maka was a bastion of steely determination standing tall as her hair whipped around her head. Black*Star was a promise of calm revenge, his body relaxed and his face still, but the stars in his eyes promising violence.

"I guess so." Tsugumi said as the tension and fear disappeared in the face of their comforting presences. "Since Shaula has done all this, we can't avoid giving her the full Death City experience."

Tsugumi Soul Count: 79/99 & 0/1


	14. Light the Path

Chapter 14 – Light the Path

 _Considering how worried about Shaula I was, it's strange that I'm feeling relieved. Meme with Tsubaki, Anya and Aaron are going to help out at the Battle Festival. How can I be scared when I have Maka and Black*Star right beside me? I've never felt stronger. I know we can win!_

"You wretches, time and again you get in the way of my plans!" Shaula said as she stood up straight, blood dripping down her face. "But your actions are meaningless. I will paint the town in your blood to decorate my new palace. Everything you love about this hideous hypocrisy filled town will crumble as order is replaced by chaos!"

"Those are some big words coming from such a pathetic person." Black*Star said. He had settled into his usual fighting stance, and kept his eyes pinned to Shaula's every move. Tsugumi had to admire just how quiet Black*Star could be when he wanted to be. Black*Star acting seriously was far more reassuring than Tsugumi had ever imagined, she'd been afraid of him going completely off the handle, but this wasn't scary at all. She'd have to remember to encourage Black*Star to take things seriously more often now that she knew, and let him know how pretty his Light Eyes looked, though she'd probably need to hide behind Maka for the latter.

"Shaula Gorgon, you're attack on DWMA won't go unanswered. For your crimes you've been added to the list." Maka said as she tightened her grip on Tsugumi, a frown on her face as she stared at Shaula. "I'll be taking your soul."

"What do you think someone like you can do against me?" Shaula said, throwing out her arm as she spoke. "I am a witch; with my power I can match any number of you! Experience firsthand why we are so feared, I am not going to hold back only destroy." Shaula said, her face stretched into a grin, covering it in wrinkles and shadows. "Soul Protect Release!" The air trembled as Shaula's wavelength escaped, the aggressive force clashing against the threes combined resonance seeking to smother them.

Shaula's wavelength was repelled as all three braced themselves, raising the strength of their resonances connection even higher. Tsugumi let her awareness sink further into the shared wavelength with Maka and Black*Star, taking comfort in their presence. "Soul Force Cannon." Black*Star said as he dashed forward right in front of Shaula who tried to step back. He slammed his crackling fist into Shaula who blocked with both arms crossed. Shaula was knocked backward, her feet sliding across the ground.

Maka leapt over Black*Star and flipped in the air, gaining momentum. "Soul Resonance: Shining Blades!" She said as Tsugumi's blades began to shine with a bright white light. Shaula stumbled out of the way of the axe swing, her clothes rippling in the wind it created. Maka continued to spin in the air and brought Tsugumi's scythe blade to bear as Shaula's vision was blocked by her own clothes. "I got you!" Maka said with a grin as Tsugumi's scythe blade sliced Shaula's left arm off.

Maka landed on the ground in a crouch and began to swing Tsugumi for another attack. Shaula's arm hit the floor, blood spurting from her shoulder. Black*Star kicked Shaula in upper thigh, making her fall to her knees. "Scorpion scissors!" Shaula said, swinging her remaining arm to create a blade of magic. Black*Star was already moving to get behind Maka, as Maka abandoned her attack on Shaula to meet the blade of magic with Tsugumi's own. With a roar of effort Maka and Tsugumi tore through the attack. The magic broke into two ripping into the street on either side of them. The dust kicked up by the attack limiting their vision to their immediate surroundings.

"She's not escaping, so she's planning something." Maka said her eyes watering from dust. Maka and Black*Star shuffled to stand back to back, watching the cloud of dust for any movement. Tsugumi tuned into Maka's Soul Perception and confirmed that Shaula was standing by the church now.

"Well that's a killer." Black*Star said as the dust cleared. Tsugumi caught sight of Shaula, now standing with her back against the church. Shaula's braid was now embedded in the ground, surrounded by black etchings that throbbed with magic through Maka's soul perception. Giant scorpion tails filling the church courtyard. "Want to just make a run straight at her?" Black*Star said with a chuckle.

"Let's not." Tsugumi said, ignoring the way Black*Star cocked his head to the side and gave a whining noise. He stopped as Maka turned her head slightly to look at him with an eyebrow raised. "If you work together I can cut through them as they come." Black*Star pouted as he moved to grab onto Tsugumi along with Maka.

"Let's finish this." Maka said as the scorpion tales converged at them. Maka and Black*Star spun while swinging Tsugumi's axe through all four tails. The magic constructs disintegrating the moment they were touched by Tsugumi's blade. Tsugumi spotted a fifth coming in the two's blind spot, Black*Star leaned forward allowing Maka to roll over his back to get in the position to spear it. A sixth came from the other side, Maka letting go of Tsugumi as Black*Star grabbed the end of the pole and swung Tsugumi's axe through it. Several more began heading towards them from Shaula's direction, Maka and Black*Star thrust her spear head through them together.

"Do it now!" Tsugumi said, the two meister charged together towards Shaula through the disintegrating magical constructs. Tsugumi could feel their resonance going even higher, all three intent on making her spear reach Shaula. They focused the entire wavelength into the pint of the spear, making Tsugumi's form warp and grow in size. "Soul Resonance: Shining Lance!" Tsugumi said, transforming into a glowing white lance. Tsugumi's Lance Form released a burst of energy, forcing the dust and debris to fly away from the three as they charged at Shaula. The ethereal ribbon tied at the base dancing in the wind it created as they went. Peripherally Tsugumi realised that Maka and Black*Star's feet were no longer touching the ground, the momentum coming solely from her resonance's power.

"What are you doing you filthy students?" Shaula said as her voice cracked. Vortexes of dark energy began forming behind Shaula as they approached. The vortexes began to release bolts of energy aimed at the three. They all dissipated as they classed with the light released from the lance. Shaula let out a gasp for air as Tsugumi's blade pierced her torso, destroying it. "How can this be..?" Shaula said as the three continued flying past her falling corpse. The lance slammed into the church walls and passed straight through the building. The three came to a sliding halt on the other side of the church.

Tsugumi returned to human form, covered in sweat and breathing heavily. "We really beat her?" Tsugumi said as she turned around to look at where Shaula had been. The hole they had made was crumbling, the entire church sagging. "Are we going to have to pay for that?" Tsugumi said pointing to the church as it collapsed.

"I'm dead. But we better not." Maka said rubbing the back of her neck. "I don't think we can afford it." Black*Star laughed, the church now a pile of rubble before them.

"If they have complaints they should have beaten the witch first." Black*Star said with a grin. "We can just point at that soul and laugh." He said waving at the soul now floating where Shaula had been standing on the other side of the rubble.

"Indeed, property damage can be forgiven in this case as it was an emergency." Death the Kid said from up above them. Tsugumi tilted her head upward to see him standing on the roof, surrounded by adults and the cartoonish Death. To her surprise Tsugumi recognised Spirit, she hadn't realised he was important enough to be seen with Death. She'd thought he'd been helping her since he had a lot of free time, but if he was important that couldn't be right. She'd have to ask him about it later.

"See it's all good!" Black*Star said with his hands on hips. Death the Kid hopped off the roof's ledge dropping to the ground, walking towards them. "If anything shouldn't you be celebrating? Since the great me helped, you managed to reap a witch's soul." Black*Star said as he leaned up to Maka's face with a smirk.

"We have a witch's soul." Maka said slowly, blinking. "We reaped a witch?" Maka raised her hands and stared at them. "Tsugumi's only needs 20 more souls." Black*Star stepped back from Maka, grin widening further than Tsugumi had realised was possible. "A few more basic missions and Tsugumi can become a Death Scythe!"

"I guess so." Tsugumi said. She didn't feel anywhere near ready to be a Death Scythe. Surely she was nowhere near qualified to hold one of the most powerful roles in DWMA, soul count aside?

Maka turned and grabbed Tsugumi by the shoulders. "Tsugumi can you believe it? You're going to be the next Death Scythe!" Tsugumi took a step back and raised an eyebrow. Maka was getting way too excited, had she been aiming to make a Death Scythe from the beginning without saying anything?

Death the Kid cleared his throat. Maka blushed and took a step back, giving Kid room to walk between them, over the rubble and over to Shaula's soul. "Since you haven't met the soul count I will hold onto Shaula the Witch's soul for now. Come to the Death Room once you've collected those last 20 souls and it shall be handed over to you." Kid said as he took a hold of the soul. Kid walked back to stand on top of the rubble, stopping at the centre. He looked down at the three of them standing below him and smiled. "Before I forget, I must thank you for your service to the city. Your actions saved many people today."

Tsugumi smiled, feeling her cheeks turn red. Beside her Maka stood up straighter and Black*Star winked and gave her a thumbs up. "No need to thank us Kid-san. Death City is our home, how would we live such a savage but super fun life anywhere else?" Tsugumi said.

Tsugumi Soul Count: 79/99 & 1/1


	15. Final Soul

Chapter 15 – Final Soul

 _After we defeated Shaula the possessed students regained their senses... Once they woke up from their naps. Afterwards we had to sit through a bunch of questions, it was pretty annoying. In the end Black*Star and I weren't much help, but at least Maka was able to answer. It was no surprise to see Death City bounce right back after that ordeal, everyday life has been restored and the security alert dropped. As winter started Sid recovered since Shaula is gone, putting Black*Star at ease. Maka's been working us hard to get those last 20 souls, we cut it close to the end of the school year, but with this I'll have got all 99 souls and a witch's soul._

"This is it, the 99th Soul!" Maka said, letting out a whoop of excitement as she cleaved Tsugumi's axe through the body of their target. The warped figure's body dissipated to reveal the glowing red soul within. Maka landed in a crouch and stood up with a grin. "Now you can become a Death Scythe Tsugumi."

"Does that mean we're done?" Tsugumi said as she returned to her human form, leaning forward to brace her hands against her knees. Tsugumi's body was shaking slightly and drenched in sweat as she took deep breaths.

"We could have finished earlier if you hadn't wanted to get exactly 20 souls Maka." Black*Star said from his perch on a nearby window sill. "This was way too easy I didn't even get to do anything." He pouted and slid lower down the sill, crossing his arms. "We could have gone to Middle East last week and fought some of that dictator's forces that would have been fun."

"If we did that Tsugumi wouldn't make it back in time to visit Japan this year idiot." Maka said, putting her hands on her hips. "This way we can drop her off at the airport." Tsugumi looked up as Maka spoke, hadn't her plane been due to leave soon?

"Oh right, I need to leave soon..." Tsugumi said and reached into her pocket to pull out her phone. Seeing the time Tsugumi stood up straight, grabbed the soul and shoved it down her throat. She ignored the familiar breathlessness caused by having her airway blocked by the gelatinous object as she swallowed the soul whole. "We're going to be late!"

Maka winced and began running ahead to where they had hidden Tsugumi's bags. "We'll make it in time if we run Tsugumi. You better transform." Maka said, pulling out the bags by the strap with one hand and catching Tsugumi with the other. "Don't just lay there idiot!" Maka threw one of the bags at Black*Star, who caught it with one hand. He raised an eyebrow at Maka and dropped the bag to the ground. "You were the one who was complaining you didn't have anything to do, carry some luggage."

Black*Star sighed and rolled off his perch. Maka was already running towards the airport. "Yeah yeah, I'm coming already." Black*Star said as he picked the bag back up and swung it over his shoulder. He caught up with the two in moments, jumping over a bench to run beside Maka. "I'm so going to get you for this later." Maka stuck her tongue out at Black*Star. She swerved out of the way of the elbow he threw at her in retaliation. Tsugumi wished they would get over their petty fights already, how did these two manage to fight and still maintain a workable resonance? They managed to run to the airport in just a few minutes. Tsugumi letting Maka and Black*Star's spat continue since it was staying relatively tame.

Tsugumi turned back into a human as they came to the security gates. "Right I've got to go, but we'll see each other soon!" Tsugumi said, wrapping her arms around the two in a tight hug.

"Yeah whatever Tsugumi, don't get clingy." Black*Star said quietly. He turned his face to the side, his face turning pink to the tips of his ears. Tsugumi smiled and at him and hugged even tighter.

"We'll met up at the Death Room the on the first day back." Maka said patting Tsugumi on the shoulder as the other girl released her. "I heard Kid plans on recording you becoming a Death Scythe it'll be all over the school!" Tsugumi felt her eye twitch, why did becoming a Death Scythe have to be such a big deal? Tsugumi took her bags from Maka and Black*Star, sliding one across her shoulder and holding the other in her hands.

"He really didn't have to go that far." Tsugumi said. She turned around so neither could see her pouting, her grip on her bag straps tightening. "I don't even know how I'm going to tell everyone back home yet. Nobody ever expected me to become an EAT, let alone a Death Scythe." Tsugumi said with a sigh as she tilted her head to the side. "My brother isn't going to let me hear the end of it." Above them the announcement system pinged, calling for Tsugumi's plane. Tsugumi peeked one last time at Maka and Black*Star as they waved good bye. "Guess I better go." Tsugumi smiled and freed one had to turn back and wave before she darted through security flashing her school badge. She'd figure out this whole Death Scythe issue later. Hopefully next year would be far more peaceful.

Tsugumi Soul Count: 99/99 & 1/1

HARUDORI NOT! END

* * *

A/n: And that's it! Harudori NOT is complete. Thanks for sticking around to read my story to the end again. Tsugumi's come really far from the nervous young girl she started as in EAT. Writing these from her perspective as she grows over time has been really fun. Plus this has been great practice for me, applying what I've learned to improve alongside her.

I'm considering whether to continue the series into the Soul Eater timeline. It'd be a far bigger project and would probably be broken down into arcs. It should be doable since I kept most of the events intact, though Sid survived. I've tried to make EAT and NOT transition from the fluffy tone of Soul Eater Not towards Soul Eater's quirky and darker one. Not sure how well I succeeded, but this was my sense of humour coming through 100%.

If I do continue Tsugumi's got a number of hurdles coming up on the horizon. Training is number 1 on the list, on top of Death Scythe Training she and Maka have to get a handle on their special abilities. Medusa is going to be far wearier of the students with another Death Scythe being made right before her plans come about, created from her younger sister's soul no less! That's going to be fun to write. But I can already tell the Kishin Asura is going to be a pain in the ass, I can't really grasp his motivations since he's all over the place depending on his mood. I must resist the urge to kill him inside the bag. But I change my mind about what way I want the story to go constantly, so we'll see.


End file.
